The Dichotomy of Democracy and Judaism*

Israel’s most fundamental dilemma—almost never discussed in a candid and philosophic manner—is the dichotomy of Democracy and Judaism. Having dealt with this dichotomy in several books, here I will only touch on Israel’s democratic quagmire.



Israel’s ruling elites—politicians and judges, academics and journalists—boast that Israel is the only Democracy in the Middle East. This boast is quite understandable, for it is precisely Israel’s democratic reputation that endows its government with legitimacy and Israel’s intellectual elites with respectability. It seems never to have occurred to her policy-makers and opinion-makers that showcasing Israel as a democracy increases Israel-bashing one the one hand, and Israel’s territorial shrinkage on the other! Bear with me as I explode some myths.



Beginning on the surface, it’s obvious that the tendency of politicians in any democracy is to speak in a manner calculated to win the approval of the voters. This democratic tendency corresponds to Israel’s notorious efforts to win the approval of the nations.



Israel is the only nation preoccupied with “hasbara” or information campaigns to solidify Israel’s existence and reputation as a democracy. Here is a nation that has periodic multiparty elections where Arabs have their own representatives in the Knesset. But here is also a nation where professors can blatantly identify with Israel’s enemies with impunity, and where Arab students can wave PLO flags on university campuses and retain their government subsidies!



Israel is so egalitarian that its Supreme Court has ruled, in effect, that disloyal citizens are entitled to the political rights of loyal citizens. Israel is so liberal or permissive that its government often refrains from retaliating against Arab stone-throwers and terrorists. The elites can rightly boast of Israeli democracy—unrivaled in its indiscriminate egalitarianism and libertarianism!



Of course, we must bear in mind that Democracy is the religion of the modern age, that politicians across the political spectrum are forever burning incense to this secular religion—more immune to questioning than any revealed religion. Still, the frequency with which Israel’s elites speak glowingly of Israeli democracy is amazing. They obviously believe that showcasing Israeli democracy will garner support abroad and simultaneously diminish anti-Semitism. For these cognoscenti, Israel’s democratic reputation is more important than her Jewish reputation. No wonder, since they obviously believe that Israel’s Jewish reputation incites anti-Semitism. This prompts Israel’s ruling elites to diminish Israel’s Jewish character.



Since Democracy today is the standard of what is acceptable, Israel’s yearning for acceptance by the democratic world magnifies her fear of pursuing national security policies that may cast doubt on Israel’s democratic credentials. Hence, Israel’s government unwittingly imposes on itself the necessity of pursuing a policy of self-restraint against Arab terrorists. But this means—and no one dares say—Jews are being sacrificed on the altar of Democracy!



Summing up, since Israel’s elites believe that the legitimacy of Israel’s government and their own prestige depend primarily on Israel’s democratic reputation, they will be all the more inclined to pursue policies dangerous to Jewish life and detrimental to Israel’s Jewish character.



A subtle way of diminishing Israel’s Jewish character is to propagate former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak’s disingenuous contention that Judaism and Democracy are compatible. Israel’s Illuminati mindlessly purveyed this falsehood while warning the public that “Arab demography”—a euphemism for the democratic principle of “one adult/one vote”—endangers Israel’s survival as a Jewish state!



Of course, Judge Barak’s obscurantism regarding Judaism and Democracy facilitates the anti-Zionist goal of transforming Israel into “a state of its citizens” or multicultural society. But the fulfillment of this goal requires, to begin with, Israel’s disengagement from Gaza followed by withdrawal from Judea and Samaria. The government’s abandoning Israel’s heartland is therefore motivated not simply by a desire for peace—as is commonly thought—but also by a desire to emasculate Israel’s Jewish character in view of the high birthrate of religious Jews.



The remedy? (1) Erase the historical memory of Jews by surrendering patriarchal Jewish land; (2) shrink the Jewish content of public education; (3) facilitate an influx of gentiles from Russia via the “grandfather clause” of the Law of Return; and (4) multiply judicial rulings that negate Jewish ideas and values. This will spare the elites of anti-Semitism, and Israel, deJudaized, will be accepted by the nations.



At first blush it may seem this conclusion is contradicted by Binyamin Netanyahu’s insistence that the Palestinian Authority recognize Israel as a Jewish state. But for this secular prime minister, a Jewish state is little more than a haven for Jews. Notice how impatient he is to surrender Judea and Samaria, land inseparable from the teachings of Israel’s prophets and sages. Those teachings are very much the well-spring of Jewish consciousness, which will evaporate if Judea and Samaria are Islamized. Follow Netanyahu’s road map to peace and in one or two generations Israel will be little more than a subject for antiquarians. Yes, but at last Israel, or what’s left of it, will have “a place among the nations”—the title of one of Netanyahu’s books.



That title betrays his ardent desire for international approval. So it was with Ariel Sharon. Recall that Sharon justified “disengagement” from Gaza as a means of improving Israel’s international image. Sharon was practicing “PR-manship” in contrast to Jewish statesmanship.



PR-manship underlies Netanyahu’s endorsement of the “two-state solution” to the Israel-Palestinian conflict—the solution demanded by the democratic world. But now let’s think beyond the complacency of democracy.



We see that democracies, since the end of the Second World War, have succumbed to moral decay and cowardice. Even America, an unrivaled superpower, now appeases terrorist thugs and tyrannies. Hence the time has come to question Churchill’s adage: democracy may not be the best form of government, but all others are worse. I dare say that Israel’s Torah, which saved Rome from utter degeneracy, again offers humanity the key to salvation.





Allow me a brief digression about an extraordinary philosopher and theologian, Rabbi Eliyahu Benamozegh, whose magnum opus Israel and Humanity, was published posthumously in 1914. In this monumental work, its author—who was called the Plato of Italy—refutes the widespread prejudice that the Torah exemplifies a theocracy. In his profound erudition we can see that Torah government is more rational, more conducive to justice and human dignity, and even more consistent with popular sovereignty than Israel’s current political system!



Speaking of the Torah, note first that it was not a secular democratic state that bestowed on mankind the Bible, the fountainhead of civilization, where individual freedom, limited government, compassion for the poor, and hatred of violence are basic principles.



Second, it should be obvious that the ethical precepts of the Torah are being trashed by contemporary democracy, where moral relativism now thrives along with a frivolous and power-oriented atheism. Perhaps this is why democracy is succumbing to the absurd and power-oriented creed of Islam.



Third, it was not a leveling democracy that produced the exalted wisdom of Psalms or Proverbs. Neither King David nor King Solomon ever thought of Israel as having merely “a place among the nations,” where Israel now finds itself—to its disgrace—in the corrupt United Nations.



While Israel’s ruling elites boast of Israeli democracy, no one expects even the shadow of Israel’s philosopher-kings to rise in this or is any secular democratic state. The secular democratic state has reached such a level of spiritual decay that its citizens are awed by the vacuous oratory of Barack Obama!



That a prime minister of Israel should cow tow to this semi-educated demagogue is a sad reflection on Israel’s reputedly Jewish character. This may explain why most people in this country despise Israeli politicians. It may also help explain why so many nations despise Israel.



Notice that since its rebirth in 1948, Israel has produced some 30 governments, all led by secularists, all fragmented, none capable of pursuing a distinctively Jewish domestic and foreign policy. There is little sense of Jewish national pride and purpose among Israel’s secular elites. They are random men, as may be found in any democratic society, where individuals drift hither and yon animated by nothing more than their own egos.



Israel’s salvation ultimately depends on having Torah men at the helm of state, but men capable of interfacing Torah and science—the prerequisite of national unity. Such men will know how to make Israel democratic by means of Jewish principles, as well as Jewish by means of democratic principles. This will provide a governmental structure for transcending the dichotomy of Democracy and Judaism, a precondition for overcoming Israel’s enemies and bringing peace to mankind.