Israel is Dangerously Polarized

Key Findings:

The author begins with a brief summary of the current political climate in Israel, following the judicial reform protests in July 2023. He warns that Israel is divided in a way that it never has been before, referencing the 30,000 votes that determined the last election as a further example of this polarization. This polarity must be broken down and understood, so that Israel’s safety is secured. Israel is a country that relies on the solidarity of its citizens in a challenging geographic region. 

The author’s main argument is that Israel’s current divisiveness does not represent a rift over policy, but “a rift over who we are”— differing from previous instances of divisiveness in the country. References to the Altalena, the Lebanon War, the Oslo Accords, and more are made by the author. Both political parties define democracy differently, and because the Jewish identity is so tied to its land and its country, it unearths a divide in who the Jewish people believe they are.

The author explains how this rift applies to the judicial reform protests. He states that on one hand, the reform is perceived as a plan designed to cement Benjamin Netanyahu’s seat in power. On the other hand, the protests are seen as a way of obtaining different electoral results by force. This implies that one side perceives democracy as the power of institutions to uphold a nation, and the other believes that democracy implies the ability to override these institutions if they endanger the sanctity of a country (the continued governance by Benjamin Netanyahu, in this case). The author infers that there are two different Jewish identities present— one that is fighting to keep a democracy that it has fought so long to obtain, and one that is changing with the times. 

In this article, the author does not explicitly side with either party, but rather makes the point that the external enemies that Israel faces are not its greatest threat. He warns that this rift in identity is putting the country’s future at stake and should be set aside to achieve what democracy is meant to achieve in the first place— the safety of a nation.