Jewish solidarity makes Israeli democracy stronger

The secret to the strength of Israeli democracy may lie in another feature of this society that is not easily reconciled with a well-run democracy: the quasi-tribal sense of Jewish solidarity, the general sense that we are a kind of extended family.
By Alexander Yakobson


The cab driver faithfully played his role as the stereotypical, old-fashioned man of the people. He was right-wing, Mizrahi (of Middle Eastern or North African origin ) and traditionally religious. He was a fan of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ("a bastard, a snake," he called him affectionately ) and an enthusiastic supporter of all the anti-left bills now before the Knesset. He expressed his uncomplimentary opinion of the leftists. "Tell me," I said to him, "would you really like to put them in prison, those leftists?" "Prison?" the driver asked in surprise. "No, of course not. You're overdoing it."

Many people believe that Israeli democracy relies on a shaky public and ideological foundation, liable to collapse at any moment. It's true that this is a society created, for the most part, by people from non-democratic countries and shaped during a bitter national conflict; the worldview of many of its people include things that do not easily accord with liberal democracy - if they do at all.

The secret to the strength of Israeli democracy may actually lie in another feature of this society that cannot easily be reconciled with a well-run democracy: the quasi-tribal sense of Jewish solidarity, the general sense that we are a kind of extended family. The vast majority of Jews from all backgrounds who came here have had no desire to kill or imprison other Jews because of politics, for reasons that are better defined as tribal rather than democratic. But in a society where this is the prevailing feeling, it is impossible to maintain any type of dictatorship. A society like this can be governed only democratically, and even then with difficulty.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/jewish-solidarity-makes-israeli-democracy-stronger-1.377352