For Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, democracy remains her supreme value and that is why she is opposed to a Basic Law endorsed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that would declare Israel as the Jewish State/Nation. For Livni, omission of the word “democratic” renders the bill pasul.
The senior minister wrote on her Facebook page, “I will continue to defend the values of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, and in no way will I allow to weaken the democratic values by binding them to the Jewish aspect. This is the Declaration of Independence which is the basis of our existence. As I opposed such initiatives in the past, I will continue to do so in the future”.
Livni in the past stated on several occasions that she opposes efforts to run a nation according to Halacha, emphasizing the value of state law, the Supreme Court and a Jewish democratic nation.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
Why not define Israel as a Jewish AND a democratic state. There are numerous free countries that have one major ethnic identity, and an official religion, but do not restrict the rights of ethnic or religious minorities. No reason Israel can’t be that, too.
Foolish woman.
“This is the Declaration of Independence which is the basis of our existence.”
Right, lihiyot am chofshi – chofshi min haTorah.
Then your little state is no different than any other state in the world. Well, I have news for you Mrs. Livni: we ARE different than any other state (nation) in the world. And if you don’t get it, the other nations of the world will continue to remind you.
Hashem Yishmor.
who said that”democracy is the tyranny of the majority”.No where is that more true than in Israel where there are few rights or protections for charedim
The Israel proclamation of independence states “…by virtue of our natural and historic right … hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the state of Israel”(the Jewish state principle). It then continues to “ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex” (the democracy principle).
Of course there is an intristic contradiction between a Jewish state and a democratic one. Imagine if the Arabs ever became a majority. Would any sane Jew in Israel, no matter how secular and liberal, hand over the reigns of power, control of the IDF’s weaponry, and agree to change the name of the state to Palestine? Of course not! But then he would be forced to deny the democratic nature of the State. This is repulsive to him! And this is why Livni is against Natanyu’s proposed law stating that Israel is a Jewish state, without mentioning democracy.
When pressed about the inherent contradiction, then president of the Supreme Court Aharon Barak whitewashed the issue by stating “The values of the State of Israel as a Jewish State are these universal values that are held in common by the elements that compose the democratic society”.
What nonsense! Jewish values are not some abstract set of “universal values”; they are Shabbat and Kashrut, Mikveh and love first and foremost of your fellow Jew, Torah study and the gammit of Mitzvot performance.
In general, Israel’s courts have made every effort to avoid a discussion of this issue, so they would not be obliged to take a stance. But when pressed, they rule on democracy over Judaism.
Livni should be bluntly asked if she would allow a theoretical Arab majority to take over the state and change its name to Palestine.
And Netanyahu should be fully supported on this issue.