Israel A Crisis of Liberal Democracy?

Abstract

Recent events have brought critics to argue that Israel’s liberal democracy is in crisis. Others have claimed that such allegations are overstated. In this chapter, the author reviews recent events that he characterizes as a ‘counter-revolution’ to the ‘constitutional revolution’. Among others, these include attempts to shift the balance between the Jewish and Democratic characters of the in favor of the former, and to reverse the judicialization processes that characterized Israeli public sphere in the recent three decades. The chapter outlines three different approaches for analysis: first, recent events represent a fulfillment, not undermining, of democracy; second, alarms concerning the danger to the Israeli democracy are greatly exaggerated; and third, Israel is undergoing, or in a dangerous slope towards, a process of constitutional capture. The author argues that while Israel is still a vibrant and strong democracy, there are troublesome processes that might lead Israel towards a dangerous constitutional retrogression.