Israel's theocratic elements becoming more violent and vocal

Israeli democracy under fire

The formula "Jewish and democratic" remains not only unsettled, but actually serves as a mine field. Frequent explosions occur, for religious extremists feeling constrained do not hesitate to threaten the institutions of the State to have their demands met.

Uri Regev 04/11/2015 23:07

Tags: democracy ·  graphs ·  extremism ·  supreme court ·  Yitzhak Rabin memorial

Graffiti on Supreme Court wall, Nov. 4, 2015, courtesy: Israel Police Spokesperson's Office

2015 MISKAR POLL:
"More than half of the [Zionist Orthodox] respondents — 55% — claimed that the murderer Yigal Amir did not kill Rabin."
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Today is November 4th – the twentieth anniversary of PM Rabin's assassination. The assassin Yigal Amir cited religious justification for his act when interrogated by security services. He compared himself to the archetypical Biblical zealot Pinchas the priest who killed the fornicating Jewish prince Zimri and the Midianite princess Cosbi, thereby assuaging God's wrath.

Today's news present a symbolic reminder of the looming, continued clash between religion and state, between religious fundamentalism and the rule of law. As we have remarked repeatedly, more than 67 years into the life of the State of Israel, the formula "Jewish and democratic" remains not only unsettled, but actually serves as a mine field. Frequent explosions occur, for religious extremists feeling constrained do not hesitate to threaten the institutions of the State to have their demands met. Today's example, illustrated by the photograph above, is graffiti sprayed on the walls of the Supreme Court, proclaiming, “One does not tear down a synagogue. We want a Jewish state.”

This graffiti is part of a violent and vocal rebellion against repeated Supreme Court decisions, ordering the tearing down of a synagogue built illegally on Palestinian owned land in the Jerusalem suburb of Givat Ze'ev. Worshipers and hundreds of their allies from all over the country have holed up in the synagogue, some threatening to commit suicide rather than let the building be destroyed, clearly demonstrating their rejection of the rule of law and authority of Israel's civil courts when these conflict with their religious convictions and privileges. However, the graffiti symbolizes a greater challenge facing Israel, for many Israelis (primarily members of Israel's Jewish religious demographic) maintain that Israel's Jewish essence stands in conflict with its democratic aspirations and whenever in tension (such as over this decision to tear down a synagogue, mandated by Israeli civil law) Jewish religious law, as they interpret it, should take precedence.

The theocratic elements of Israeli's Jewish society in 2015 are increasing, becoming more violent and vocal, gaining greater representation in the Knesset and government, and are threatening the basic institutions of democracy - first and foremost, the independent judiciary. They also challenge such core democratic principles as the equality of all citizens regardless of race, religion, or gender. Painfully, we have to state that the powers that be, whether the Cabinet as a whole, the Prime Minister, the Chief Rabbis, or the Ministry of Education do not seem to seriously acknowledge the threat, let alone attempt to treat it at its root.

The theocratic elements of Israeli's Jewish society in 2015 are increasing, becoming more violent and vocal, gaining greater representation in the Knesset and government, and are threatening the basic institutions of democracy.

Doing justice to evaluating the role of religion in the face of increasingly threatening challenges to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state will require much more depth and scope, and we hope to return to it. For the time being, we want to bring your attention to a recent poll of religious Jewish Israelis conducted just before this twentieth anniversary of PM Rabin’s z”l death. This aspect of the questions surrounding the horrific event has been surprisingly little covered in the media, but these shocking findings must be shared widely with all who are committed to the essential notion of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.

The recent poll conducted by Miskar, which specializes in following opinions and trends in the Zionist Orthodox sector in Israel, reveals a particularly disturbing finding: More than half of the respondents — 55.8% — claimed that the murderer Yigal Amir did not kill Rabin, and 68% of respondents said that Amir, who is serving a life sentence, should be released eventually. Fully 91% of respondents said that Rabin’s government jeopardized the future of Israel when it signed the agreement with the Palestinians. The high percentage of those who maintain these views makes clear that this is no coincidence, nor reflective of marginal factions. Rather, this highlights the larger issue, which is: the impact of religion on the mindset of Israelis regarding a wide array of issues under the general heading of 'Jewish and democratic'.

CLICK HERE for full sized graphs from the 2014 Israel Democracy Index

The findings of the Miskar poll unfortunately correlate to findings that were revealed in last year's Israel Democracy Index, published by IDI. In response to the statement “Jewish citizens of Israel should have greater rights than non-Jewish citizens,” 58.8% of respondents who identify as religious responded in the affirmative (compared to 23.1% of secular Israeli Jews). Similarly, 72.3% of Israeli religious Jews affirmed the statement “It is acceptable for Israel, as a Jewish state, to allocate more funding to Jewish localities than to Arab ones” (compared to 30.5% of secular Israeli Jews)

We must stress that we in no way intend to equate religion with racism, anti-democratic sentiments, conspiracy theories, or compassion for PM Rabin's z"l assassin. The participation of Sarah Rosenfeld (bereaved mother of Malachi Rosenfeld who was murdered in a terrorist attack near the settlement of Shilo in the West Bank about four months ago) who spoke at the 2015 Rabin Memorial Rally, as well as the participation of Zionist Orthodox leader Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, are clear indications of the opposite. Similarly, the leadership provided by Orthodox rabbis and intellectuals to anti-racist and pro-democratic initiatives such as those of Tag Meir and the Shalom Hartman Institute - these too tell a story. Nevertheless, the correlation between these polls and others relating to various aspects of democracy, and the distinctly high percentage of those who were the products of religious education in Israel who hold such disturbing positions requires very serious consideration and urgent, thorough action.