5 reasons why Israel is not a democracy, by Josef Avesar, founder of the Israeli Palestinian Confederation, which advocates for a mutual third government for Israelis and Palestinians…
1) “It does not have a constitution.” Josef explains in an earlier blog for The Times of Israel that Israel is unable to even draft a constitution because “the concept of a Jewish State contradicts democratic principles of pluralism, secularism and equal rights.”
2) “It does not separate between religion and state. A Jewish state is the opposite of a democracy”. In the Times blog, Joseph reveals that Israel “routinely passes religious laws on issues of family, marriage, divorce and immigration to prevent non-Jews from immigrating or to remain in the country in order to give Jews priority.”
3) “It does not give citizenship to millions of people under it’s control in the west bank, Gaza and Jerusalem and they are not allowed to vote.” In other words, Israel does not recognise the indigenous Palestinian people, under its control, as citizens.
4) “There is no separation between the legislative and the executive branch” All government ministers, including the PM, are also members of the legislative branch so there is no separation of power.
5) “It’s supreme court does not have independent power. It is constantly being threatened by the legislator and it is the creation of the legislator, who are trying to control it and restrict its power all the time.” In other words, as the Supreme Court is not independent, the party in government at any given time and, therefore, the PM, holds a great deal of sway over who gets appointed as a supreme court judge.
