Knesset's streak of anti-democratic legislation goes against the public's will

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Are Israelis interested in legislation that threatens to violate fundamental rights and undermine the functioning and independence of various institutions and organizations?

By ASIF EFRAT JANUARY 7, 2025 00:34

After a temporary pause at the start of the war, coalition members have recently returned to promoting a flood of laws that could harm Israel’s democratic institutions and values. These go from significantly expanding parliamentary immunity to restricting the right to protest and from hindering NGOs’ ability to raise funds from foreign sources to deporting terrorists’ families.

If successfully completed, these many legislative initiatives could fundamentally alter Israel’s character and diminish its democratic-liberal nature.

Do these initiatives enjoy public support? Are Israelis interested in legislation that threatens to violate fundamental rights and undermine the functioning and independence of various institutions and organizations?

The Institute for Liberty and Responsibility at Reichman University examined this question through public opinion polls conducted by iPanel in November and December. For the examination, we distinguished between two categories of initiatives promoted by the coalition.

The first category includes measures to restrict political freedom of expression under the pretext of fighting terrorism. Here we asked survey participants about their level of support for three legislative initiatives: a bill that would make it easier to disqualify a candidate or party from running in Knesset elections if they expressed support for a terrorist organization’s struggle against Israel; a law (already enacted) that allows the Education Ministry’s director-general to dismiss a teacher who expressed praise and sympathy for an act of terrorism; and a bill requiring academic institutions to fire lecturers who expressed support for terrorism.

United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni leads a Finance committee meeting, in the Knesset, in Jerusalem, December 31, 2024 (credit: FLASH90/CHAIM GOLDBERG)

The second category includes legislative initiatives unrelated to counterterrorism. In this context, we asked survey participants about their level of support for two initiatives: a bill to privatize the public broadcasting corporation “Kan”; and a bill to expand the jurisdiction of rabbinical courts beyond the narrow scope of family matters.

Our findings reveal limited and selective public support for the coalition’s anti-democratic legislative initiatives.

Legislative initiatives against expressing support for terrorism enjoy broad majority support among the Jewish public. Seventy-six percent of Jews support expanding party disqualification from elections due to support for terrorism; 79% support the law for dismissing teachers for supporting terrorism; and 82% of the Jewish public favor dismissing lecturers who expressed support for terrorism. Since these three legislative initiatives are primarily directed against Arabs, it is not surprising that support rates among the Arab public are much lower, at 17%, 20%, and 27% respectively.

The Jewish public approves of initiatives against expression of support for terrorism, even though their actual contribution to counterterrorism is questionable.

These initiatives threaten to harm the right to be elected, freedom of expression, and freedom of occupation in order to promote goals that have nothing to do with fighting terrorism: preventing Arab parties from participating in elections, portraying Arab citizens as terrorism supporters and enemies of Israel, preventing a critical and free debate, and politicization of the education system and universities.

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But the Jewish public in Israel, like other publics worldwide, is willing to back harmful, antidemocratic measures wrapped in an “anti-terrorism” guise. This is certainly true when Israel is at war with a cruel terrorist organization and when the measures in question are intended to primarily affect Arabs.

Willing to forgo democracy for counterterrorism

However, when we move beyond terrorism-related initiatives, our findings show that the public becomes more skeptical and much less enthusiastic.

Support for the bill to privatize the public broadcasting corporation is low: 28% among the Jewish public and 21% among the Arab public. Israelis, it seems, recognize the importance of public broadcasting free from commercial interests and reject the argument that public broadcasting is unnecessary.

The proposal to expand the Rabbinical Courts’ jurisdiction is supported by only 35% of the Jewish public. Those in favor of the proposal argue that the rabbinical court will decide civil disputes – outside family matters – only with the parties’ consent. Most Israelis, however, understand the problems inherent in increasing the authority of a court that is not committed to democratic principles and to the fundamental rights guaranteed by Israeli law.

In their flood of anti-democratic legislative initiatives, coalition members claim to promote various public interests. The public, we find, only partially agrees. During wartime, the Jewish public gives a “blank check” to fight terrorism, even if this means harming democratic values. However, when it comes to legislation unrelated to terrorism – which constitutes the main bulk of proposed legislation – the public shows a more critical stance and less willingness to accept significant changes to the country’s institutions and its fundamental values.

If coalition members retain any sense of public commitment, they should follow Israelis’ sentiments and stop running amok in an attempt to undermine democracy. This is also the public’s responsibility – to understand the severe implications of the various legislative initiatives and to thwart them.

The writer is a senior research fellow at the Institute for Liberty and Responsibility at Reichman University.

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