Danny, you say the USA isn’t a “true democracy”. There are many definitions of that term, and in one sense I’m very glad we’re not. A pure democracy, technically speaking, is mob rule. Madison said as much — that even had every Athenian been a Socrates, the Athenian Democracy would still have been a mob.

In other senses, our society doesn’t live up to its principles, and of course we must strive to help it reach them.

But in broad strokes, from a wide angle lense, or from the standpoint of whatever other cliche metaphor you like, when you look at Israel or the US, and then you look at North Korea or Saudi Arabia, you don’t see the same kind of system in place.

Richard, you say Israeli Arabs are second-class citizens. That, too, is a rather vague term. Israeli Arabs face an unfortunate degree of discrimination and hardship. But when we speak of second-class citizens, I think of black Americans during Jim Crow.

The topic of the Israel/Palestine situation frequently suffers from black-and-white moral judgment. I don’t think it’s altogether fair to classify a group of citizens who can not only vote but can and do serve on a country’s Parliament, Cabinet and Supreme Court, as second-class.

You need to clarify what your model of democracy is because you seem to be holding Israel to an unfair standard.

In very few other democracies are there groups amounting to 15-20% of the overall population who are viewed grudgingly as citizens of the state; who are viewed as 2nd class citizens;

I agree with you that the status of Israeli Arabs is problematic and I never claimed that Israel embodies a upotia of equality. But again, I could point to similar situations in almost every country. American Blacks in the early part of the 20th century were excluded from many social and political institutions. Japanese Americans during WWII were certainly not treated as equal citizens. Muslims in France today are cultural and politically marginalized as are many religious Muslims in Turkey. I could go on but the point is that when viewed in the proper context, Israel is hardly lagging behind the West in civil rights. Israel allows the holiest site of Judaism, the Temple Mount, to be controlled by Muslim authorities even to the point of not allowing Jews to worship there.

The fact that “the New Israel Fund & its Israeli affiliates exist there – to protect & nurture a tradition of civil liberties” represents a stength - not a weakness - in Israeli democratic culture. The various Arab parties represented in the Knesset further testify to Israel as a thriving democracy.

Your comment “Israel is at war with its closest neighbors, many of whom travel freely throughout the country” seems a veiled reference to Israeli Arabs & indicates that you too look askance at them as full members of Israeli society.

No. By “closest neighbors” I meant terrorists working out of neighboring Arab countries who infiltrate Israel on a regular basis. Considering the circumstance of Israel’s historic and current relationship with its neighbors, I think it is unfair to criticize it on this account.

We should always demand a greater level of fairness and liberty for minority groups and equal civil rights for all Israelis. But be careful not to hold Israel to an unfair standard. A country with a free press, political parties that represent Arab minorities, and a wide range of political views in its government, at a time of war no less, is hardly a “hybrid democracy”.

First, you make my post seem to be a harsh attack on the man while he lies on his deathbed. My post is an appraisal of his career, his entire career. I do mention things that are admirable about his last few years as PM. But 50 yrs. in military & public life came before his prime ministership & these need to be taken into acct. as well. And his earlier record is pretty dreary & bloodthirsty.

Democracy is not one thing as you make it out to be. It is a system composed of many facets. You don’t have to have every facet to be a democracy. But the less of these facets your own brand of democracy observes, the more attenuated yr democracy is.

Israel’s version of democracy IS different than what is practiced elsewhere. In very few other democracies are there groups amounting to 15-20% of the overall population who are viewed grudgingly as citizens of the state; who are viewed as 2nd class citizens; who are deeply discriminated against for being Arab rather than Jewish. I’m speaking of Israeli Arabs.

Your comment “Israel is at war with its closest neighbors, many of whom travel freely throughout the country” seems a veiled reference to Israeli Arabs & indicates that you too look askance at them as full members of Israeli society.

As for the high court, I wouldn’t go so far as to call it “activist.” After all, it somehow cannot seem to bring itself to allow cases involving human rights violations or war crimes against Israeli officers to come before it. This of course fuels international campaigns to bring the Israeli military to justice before an internationa court. As long as Israel’s high court won’t even allow such a case, it harms Israel by forcing international activists to seek justice outside Israel.

I’d say that this court is so fearful of shining the full light of jurisprudence on the IDF’s & Shin Bet’s serious & ongoing abuses that it is not fully employing its powers. Rather, it’s pulling its punches as it were.

Second, I don’t believe the High Court can strike down legislation since there is no Constitution against which to measure such legislation. That makes it a weak sister of the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Remarkable record of civil rights?” Surely you jest. I guess if you’re an Israeli Jew you might feel that way (though I’ve lived in Israel & never felt so while I was there). But I assure you that no Israeli Arab sees it your way. And also tens of thousands of progressive Israeli Jews don’t see it your way either. That’s why the New Israel Fund & its Israeli affiliates exist there–to protect & nurture a traditiona of civil liberties. But they unfortunately have all too little to go on.