Israel has long been viewed as “the only democracy in the Middle East,” yet the system of democracy on which the country runs might not be as free and just as it may seem. Israel is a parliamentary democracy with the Knesset as the legislature, the Prime Minister and their coalition serving as the main Executive and head of government, and a Judiciary, led by the Supreme Court, working independently of the Legislative and Executive branches.
In most indexes, Israel is considered a free and democratic state, yet at the bottom of reports about Israel, you will usually find an asterisk which says, ‘not including the West Bank or Gaza’. Although these territories are considered separate from Israel, the laws and decisions made by the Israeli government directly affect the millions living in these places. For the over 5 million Palestinians living in these territories, every decision made by Israel is a matter of life or death. Yet they are blocked from being involved in these elections. Legally, the West Bank and Gaza should be governed by Palestinians, and the government elected by the Palestinians, yet on multiple occasions, Israel has either indefinitely suspended these elections or outright rejected the result of the election, refusing to recognize the victors, most notably the election of Hamas in 2006, which Israel still rejects and refuses to recognize to this day. After the elections in 2006, Israel imposed a series of measures meant to limit Hamas’s power in the area and effectively choke them out of government. These measures included increased military surveillance and security checks, travel restrictions on the Gaza people, and financial sanctions. These measures turned Gaza into what the Human Rights Watch described as “the world’s largest open-air prison”.
Although legally, Palestinians had control over the areas, laws passed in the Knesset directly affected the people living there. Nearly a million Israelis live in these territories, all of which are granted the right to vote on these laws, yet the Palestinians who live just a few kilometers away from the Israelis aren’t granted those same rights, showing the stark difference in treatment between Israelis and minorities living under Israeli rule. Within the Israeli territories themselves, there is rampant discrimination against non-Jewish minorities. Over 20% of the Israeli population are Palestinian Israelis, and although legally, they are offered the right to vote, many point out the systemic oppression that limits these rights. Palestinian Israelis often live in poorer neighborhoods with worse education, and their political activity is policed much more often and significantly harsher than the activities of other non-Arab political groups. Over 65 laws have been put in place to discriminate either directly or indirectly against Palestinian citizens of Israel, including laws passed that allow members of the Knesset to kick out other members, the disqualification of Palestinian political parties from running in elections, and criminal indictments by police against politicians for participating in political protests, a right only offered to Jews in Israel. The result of such laws is that, as of the most recent Knesset elections in 2022, only 10 of the 120 members of the Knesset are held by Palestinian Israelis.
Outside of the discriminatory treatment of minorities in Israel, there has been a constant trend of democratic backsliding in Israel. In 2019, PM Netanyahu accused members of the judiciary of an attempted coup, amid corruption charges he was facing, and in 2023, the Knesset passed laws limiting the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction, including the ability to overturn laws and overrule government decisions. Many Israelis have also accused the Netanyahu regime of heading towards a more authoritarian direction, with Aluf Benn, Editor in Chief of Haaretz, publishing a piece in 2023 in which he states, “(Netanyahu’s) mission is making Israel into an openly racist authoritarian state.” Israel also has an abysmal track record when it comes to journalistic freedom. In 2025 alone, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported that Israel had directly targeted and killed 86 journalists, around 67% of all journalists killed in the world. The Knesset has also passed laws allowing for the shutdown of any foreign news outlet without the need for a court order, further limiting journalistic freedom. Israel has also been accused by Amnesty International of using facial recognition software and surveillance drones to reinforce their ‘apartheid’ against minorities, as well as limit decent.
Alongside the constant signs of democratic backsliding and the apartheid policies created against minority populations, Israel has also been found by UN commissions to be committing genocide in Palestine, according to the criteria outlined in the Genocide Convention. As a state that is considered to be the only democracy in the region, Israel has ticked many boxes that suggest otherwise. Democracy is usually represented by two major conditions: the first being that the population has the right to vote, and the second being that the elections are meaningful and the results are respected. The first condition, as previously mentioned, is only true for a portion of the population, with Palestinian Israelis having their voting rights and representation limited through structural apartheid, and non-Israeli Palestinians not being able to vote at all. As for the second, Israel does have a track record for respecting the outcome of elections. That being said, if only one condition is respected, then Israel should be considered only partially a democracy, and a partial democracy is not a democracy at all.
This post points out some important issues about inequality and democratic backsliding in Israel, especially when it talks about how Palestinians are excluded from political participation and how minority groups are treated. The examples about Gaza, the West Bank, and discrimination within Israel itself make it clear why people question whether Israel can really be considered a full democracy.
At the same time, I feel like the conclusion that “a partial democracy is not a democracy at all” might be a bit too strong. I understand the argument, but it seems a little too black-and-white. Even if the system is clearly unequal and has serious problems, that doesn’t necessarily mean it should be seen as completely non-democratic.
There are still some democratic features that exist, such as elections, political competition, and some level of judicial oversight, although some of these seem to be weakening over time. Because of that, it might make more sense to think of democracy as something that exists on a spectrum. In a case like Israel, it feels like democratic and non-democratic elements exist at the same time, which makes it harder to label it in a simple way.
Do you think it’s better to think about democracy this way, rather than as something that either fully exists or doesn’t?
This post deals with the unclear and often incomplete understanding that we have for Israel’s democracy and political system. Israel is usually seen as the most democratic country in the Middle East, but this post raises important questions about that idea. While Israel does follow a democratic system, the West Bank and Gaza are treated differently. Even though Israel has strong control over these areas, it does not fully apply the same democratic rights there. This creates a political problem, especially in areas where Palestinians and Israelis live close to each other. Israelis living in these areas are given the right to vote and take part in politics, but Palestinians are not. This goes against a basic idea of democracy, which is that people should have the right to participate in political decisions. Because of this, it can be seen as a decline in democracy. Also, discrimination between Jewish and non-Jewish people has existed for a long time. This can be seen not only in society but also in the political system. The fact is there are over 65 laws that discriminate against Palestinian citizens shows that this is serious part of the system. This kind of inequality can lead to more conflict and shows that problems in democracy can come from long-standing structures. When we come up with the situation of Palestinians, who live under Israeli. They are dominated by limited rights and face difficult livings. I think these kind of inequality make hard to say that Israel is a fully fair or ideal democracy.