Israel Debates No. 10 05. January 2012 Is Israel’s democracy in danger? The controversial proposed legislation of the ruling right-wing coalition Over the past few months, Israel has been hitting the headlines in an unusual fashion. It is not just the unresolved conflict with the Palestinians and Israel’s charged relationships with Iran and its Arab neighbors that are focusing worldwide attention on the country. Previously Israel had, quite rightly, styled itself the only democracy in the Middle East. Recently, however, there have been domestic political developments triggering vehement and passionate disagreements about the liberal, pluralist and democratic nature of both state and society. This year, radical settlers from Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank who use violence against Palestinians and their property, as well as mosques, have added an extra tactic. On a number of occasions they have forced their way into Israeli army bases and gone on the rampage. In one incident they damaged military equipment and, in an unprecedented step, threw stones at a senior Israeli officer, who sustained injuries. Extremist representatives of ultra­Orthodox Jewish circles have publicly cursed and spat at women because they were not prepared to sit at the back of the bus, were not dressed“appropriately,” or used what the extremists have defined as men-only sidewalks. Reactions to these events by the general public and political circles have sparked intense discussions and protests. In the city of Beit Shemesh several thousand people demonstrated against discrimination against women. There was all-round condemnation of the radical settlers’ violent action against the army, which is actually there to protect them. In addition to these social conflicts, for months now a series of controversial legislative initiatives from the rightist coalition, which has been in power since 2009, have generated vehement debates. For the opposition and its supporters, these bills constitute an attack on democratic principles as well as a danger to the liberal nature of Israel society. From the standpoint of the initiators of the proposed legislation and their political adherents, these initiatives are an expression of majority views and are absolutely vital in order to strengthen Israel and reinforce the Jewish character of both state and society. The laws can be divided into four groups: 1) financing conditions for NGOs, primarily those critical of Israel’s occupation policy, must be altered; 2) in the media, investigative journalists should be deterred; 3) legislative initiatives designed to discriminate against Israeli Arabs(20% of the country’s population), thereby undermining the principle of equality; 4) limiting the independence of the Supreme Court and increasing the influence of politics on the judiciary. Why are these legislative initiatives being put forward now of all times, and why are there so many of them? Overall, for an explanation we have only to look at the outcome of the February 2009 elections, with a clear victory by the 1