When politicians promise “peace”, they usually mean silence, not democracy. On nearly the anniversary of Hamas’s deadly terrorist attack on Israel from October 7, 2023, comes a recent hostage deal and ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, that many are hopeful as the first step to the final steps. Donald Trump’s 20-point plans for the region is being hailed as a diplomatic breakthrough, not only for the past two years of conflict, but for decades of violence in the region. But beneath the pretty headlines, it carries the bones of something we’ve seen before: the steady erosion of democratic accountability from both sides of this war.

Israel

Israel’s democracy has been fraying for years. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has been widely unpopular for years, and recent attempts at judicial overhaul, and the rising influence of nationalist parties among younger voters have already tested the institutional checkpoints. According to the Clingendael Institute, Israel’s prolonged presence and its security-driven governance have gradually normalized powers and weakened democratic norms. Now, the 20-Point plan risks accelerating that decay. 

In theory, the plan is a wonderful proposal to bring balance to the region and security to both parties. But by tying an indefinite security framework, the plan legitimizes a state of emergency in which Netanyahu’s cabinet has been all too happy to normalize over the past two years. Power will quietly concentrate in the executive, and decisions will be made away from watchful eyes. Dissent from political figures and the public could be labeled disloyal and potentially dangerous. It hopes to bring stability, but in practice it could reinforce a politics of fear that puts pluralism on the bench. 

The Knesset’s role in oversight has faded, replaced by a carefully picked few ministers that answer existential questions for the sake of the population. Granted – sometimes it’s necessary when a terrorist organization has embedded itself among their neighbors all around them. Nonetheless, when a democracy convinces itself that unimaginable threats warrant extraordinary powers, it stops noticing when those powers have been going on for too long.

Palestine

Just miles away from Israel’s capital, Tel Aviv, the Gaza Strip sells “technocracy” as its own version of representation. Under Trump’s 20-Point Plan, Gaza would presently be governed by an international “Board of Peace”, a temporary fix for the larger plan. Hamas, unless it were to completely disarm and undergo de-radicalization, will be excluded entirely. The Palestinian Authority, authoritarian in almost every way, is invited to assist, but not able to decide. 

The idea is coherent and not unfamiliar: remove the contorted politics, initiate administrators that care, handle the reconstruction later. But history has shown that a democracy can not grow under foreign management. Analysts from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace note that two decades of postponed Palestinian elections have crippled the legitimacy of the Palestinian Authority. Palestinians already live under divided leadership – Hamas’s militance and chokehold over the Gaza Strip, and the Palestinian Authority’s rule in the West Bank. This plan risks building a third layer that the conflict it seemed had been trying to eliminate; occupation seen as oversight. 

In 2005 Israel pulled all of their personnel and gave the Gaza Strip to Palestinians completely, ideally in the aim for lasting peace. In 2006, Hamas secured enough votes in the Palestinian Parliament to claim victory and majority rule. Since their victory, elections have been postponed for nearly two decades, civilians face constant daily restrictions, and public trust is vanishing. A new peace plan that ignores participation from the people themselves may deliver for a quick moment, but will soon breed alienation. 

Erosion

We know today that Democratic Erosion so rarely comes with tanks rolling in; instead slowly seeping through crisis and destabilization. As Arad and Freedman explain, members of Israel’s Knesset have increasingly adopted ideological framings that justify executive consolidation under crisis management. Every time there is a new emergency, be it war, terrorism, or a ceasefire, just allows for new justifications. Israel’s democracy is distorted by its constant mobilization, while Palestine’s is by the absence of sovereignty. Trump’s 20-Point Plan unfortunately doesn’t break this cycle, instead simply reborn under a new name. Both governments can equally claim democratic intent, but maintain anti-democratic practices such as indefinite emergency powers, and unaccountable institutions. As long as “regional stability” ranks higher than liberty, neither Israel nor Palestine may hope to escape erosion. 

Hope

The plan could always work out differently. If the proposed funds for reconstruction in Gaza were tied to a transparent government, if Palestinian elections were restored truthfully, and if Israeli leadership accepts judicial oversight, peace could foster a birth of democracy instead of snuffing it out. A Carnegie policy brief argues that renewed elections, with transparent foreign aid conditionality, could reignite legitimacy in Palestinian politics. Israelis and Palestinians alike have demanded political renewal, showing that crises like these have a way of clarifying what matters most. If Trump’s plan, or any plan, is able to harbor that energy instead of suffocating, it could be a launching point for democratic reconstruction rather than decay. 

Conclusion

The real indicator of peace won’t be the end of airstrikes in Gaza or sirens throughout Tel Aviv, it will be whether both peoples can rebuild trust in the idea of self government, and that citizens themselves will be able to shape their future. Freedom House’s 2025 assessment shows Israel’s civil-liberties score dropping to its lowest in over a decade (Israel Democracy Institute), underscoring that even well-established democracies aren’t immune to decline. Trump’s 20-Point Plan could mark a historical turning point, but it’s only possible if it stops treating democracy as a luxury, and begins treating democracy as the foundation of any true peace.