News from Jerusalem

Israel held first of 18 elections in 1949

As unrest sweeps the Arab world, threatening to topple Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year regime, Israel stands as an island of democratic stability in the region and the most reliable ally of the United States.

The events were triggered by the ouster earlier this month of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Protests have also erupted in Jordan, Yemen and Algeria – but it is Egypt which stands firmly in the spotlight, not least because of its status as a key U.S. strategic ally and because of its peace treaty with Israel. 

Instability is also convulsing Lebanon where a pro-Western government has collapsed and seems about to be replaced by a Hezbollah-dominated regime backed by Iran. 

All this illustrates, perhaps more dramatically than ever before, how different Israel is from all its neighbors. As a lively, boisterous democracy, the events unfolding on Arab streets across the region would be unthinkable in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. 

Israel held its first election to a constituent assembly which later became the Knesset (Parliament) in January 1949, less than a year after declaring independence. Although the country was still officially at war with Arab states that had invaded with the intention of destroying the new-born Jewish state, the vote went ahead. It has since held 17 more elections at regular intervals -- a sequence unbroken by war, assassination or terrorism. 

In the last election in February 2009, 12 parties won seats in the Knesset, including three predominantly Arab parties as well as parties representing the Right, the Left, the Center and several strands of Orthodox Judaism. 

But democracy requires much more than holding elections. It requires freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, the freedom to communicate and organize. It requires an independent judiciary and a panoply of non-governmental independent organizations representing groups such as labor, business, women, gays, immigrants, seniors, environmentalists, health advocates – the list is endless. 

All of these – and more – Israel has. 

Of course, corruption and abuse of power threaten any democracy. But when confronted with such problems, Israel has dealt with them even when they have occurred at the highest level. Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was forced to resign in 2008 under suspicion of taking bribes and faking travel expenses. Former President Ezer Weizman resigned in 2000 after newspapers alleged he accepted money from businessmen without reporting it. His successor, Moshe Katzav, left office in disgrace amid allegations of sexual misconduct and was recently convicted of rape. 

Israel’s democracy also survived the shock of the tragic 1995 assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by an extremist hoping to halt the peace process. 

Other countries in the Middle East have occasionally held elections – but they are usually a case of one person, one vote, one time. Local elections were held in Gaza in January 2005 which brought the Iranian-backed Islamic fundamentalist Hamas movement to power. That was six years ago and there is no prospect of Gazans being able to vote again anytime soon. 

In 2007, Hamas brutally crushed the Fatah opposition. A poll by The Israel Project in Gaza last October found Hamas with only a 40 percent approval rating, trailing considerably behind Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah – but of course Gazans have no opportunity to express their will in a democratic manner. 

Other Arab countries have held fake elections or stolen them. Syria had a presidential “referendum in 2007 to confirm President Bashar al-Assad in office. He was duly endorsed with a mere 97.62 percent of the vote. The most recent Egyptian election on Nov. 28, 2010, was marked by accusations of ballot stuffing, bullying and dirty tricks. Many opposition candidates boycotted the sham poll in which the ruling National Democratic Party won nearly 95% of the 221 seats settled in the first round. 

The wave of unrest that now threatens to overthrow Mubarak has forced the United States into a difficult position. For decades, it has supported Mubarak and other Arab authoritarian leaders for want of a better alternative. The 1979 Iranian revolution provides a jarring lesson in what can happen when a corrupt and undemocratic regime is replaced by an even more vicious one. The Shah’s government, no doubt, was a cruel human rights abuser – but the Islamic fundamentalism of the Ayatollahs which replaced him has been a thousand times worse and now threatens the peace of the world with its reckless nuclear weapons program. 

There are no easy answers to Washington’s dilemma. But the overall lesson is clear. The United States needs more democratic friends in the region. Friends it can rely on. Friends like Israel.

By Alan Elsner, TIP Senior Communications Director - The Israel Project