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1/03/2003 10:34:00 PM | Timothy Israeli Democracy Under Threat? Slate reports that Israel's election commission has banned two Arab Israeli politicians from seeking office. Many Israeli papers are upset that a commission even has that power. The Slate article does not say, but I assume that the Arab politicians were disqualified because they have supported violence in some way. But what do you all think of the provision that you must support the existence of Israel as a specifically Jewish state in order to seek office? Many Leftist Jewish intellectuals in Israeli support turning Israel into a secular state, a state of all its peoples. Is it fair that they (apparently) can't run for office? What kind of adherence to constitutional principles can a democracy demand of potential representatives? How much are these judgments of basic democratic principles universal and how much are they informed by shared understandings of different political communities? Leaders of the Israeli Arab community claimed they were being disenfranchised after Israel's Central Elections Committee voted earlier this week to bar two Arab lawmakers serving in the current parliament from contesting the Jan. 28 Knesset elections. The 41-member committee ignored the recommendation of Chairman Mishael Cheshin, a Supreme Court judge, and voted to disqualify Ahmed Tibi and Azmi Bishara. The decision was possible because, according to the Jerusalem Post, the law governing the Knesset "expressly disqualifies the candidacies of parties and individuals who negate Israel's right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state; engage in racist incitement; or support an enemy state or terror organization's armed struggle against the state." Cheshin felt the two Arab MKs should be given "the benefit of the doubt." The committee also disregarded Cheshin's counsel and allowed the candidacy of Baruch Marzel, a former head of the late Meir Kahane's outlawed Kach movement, who once advocated the expulsion of Arabs from Israel. All three cases will be appealed to the Supreme Court. perma link |
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