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Garrison State: Far from endangered, Israel now controls the commanding heights.
“Israel Is a Successful Democracy”
Sort of. From what began as an impoverished and war-ravaged country flooded with Jewish refugees from Europe and the Arab world, Israel has grown into a regional military power with a per capita GDP that exceeds all its neighbors. Unusual among post-World War II states, it has also managed to maintain an uninterrupted parliamentary regime for 60 years. Israel’s status as the Middle East’s only credible democracy plays a major role in its close alliance with the United States and its generally warm relations with Europe.
But how well is that democracy working? Israel elects its leaders, and its vigorous free press sometimes publishes criticism that might be considered anti-Israel elsewhere. Much of that criticism is aimed at the undemocratic regime in the West Bank: Jewish settlers enjoy the full rights of Israeli citizens, while Palestinian self-rule is limited to enclaves.
Within Israel proper, democracy is functioning but fragile. The lack of a written constitution has left the creation of civil rights to an activist Supreme Court—from a landmark 1953 decision that kept the government from closing newspapers, to last year’s ruling that enshrines the right of same-sex couples to adopt children. But the court’s position is tenuous. Some in Israel want the Knesset,...
