The Jewish Origins of Israel’s Democracy

Abstract

The central claim of this chapter is that the origins of Israeli democracy are rooted in a Jewish political tradition that evolved for over three millennia. This tradition influenced and continues to influence a democracy that finds itself in a constant struggle for its existence and functions in a nondemocratic environment while absorbing migrants from countries mostly lacking a democratic political culture. A remarkable characteristic of the Jewish political tradition is the Covenant idea as a basis of a “social contract” restraining political power. The diffused power political system that characterized most of Jewish statehood history accompanied them in the Diaspora when they founded self-government communities known as the Kehilla, and carried over to the Yishuv, where all groups and movements were represented and given a share in its elected institutions. The politics of accommodation developed following independence on issues of religion and state allowed the state to keep its Jewish identity along a functioning democratic system.