About Us Israelis - Security and the Rule of Law

In a land where existential threats are a daily reality, our legal system is one of the most important barriers against tyranny. The first Israeli biblical leaders after the conquest of the land by Joshua were judges. For us Israelis, a judge is tantamount to being a leader.

Israelis are forced by circumstance to continuously carry with them an uneasy tension between the rule of law and the need to secure life and their country's survival. Finding ourselves at war with our neighbors from day one, and living ever since under a Damoclean threat to our lives, Israelis have forced their leaders to come up with a security apparatus that allows us a certain degree of protection. On the other hand, as a modern nation that evolved from a combination of ancient traditions and a modern Zionist philosophy – which holds dear to its heart values such as self-determination, democracy and pluralism – we have also forced our leaders to establish a modern, sustainable, pluralistic and democratic state.

Immediately upon the declaration of their State by Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion, Israelis found themselves being stormed by the armies of five Arab states, openly declaring their intention to completely destroy the newly-born Jewish state. Ever since, we've been through six additional wars, two bloody intifadas, countless border infiltrations, countless horrific terrorist attacks – at home and abroad – periods of continuous shelling from Lebanon and from the Gaza Strip, car bombs, suicide bombers on busses, in cafés, in market places, at hangout places for Israeli teenagers, at hotels etc. Alongside all that, always hanging above our heads, were threats from one neighbor or another (and some further off geographically) to annihilate us.

The ongoing effort to secure the lives of Israelis against all external and internal threats is a great challenge, first and foremost to Democracy and to the rule of law. This is especially reinforced when countries in a constant state of danger are placed under a partial or complete state of emergency. Israel has been in danger since the day it was created, and it is still under a state of emergency. This fact poses a massive challenge to the rule of law, to civic freedoms and sometimes to basic human rights.

The fact that Israel is still very much democratic, even if at a very high cost in terms of human life, is proof that it is succeeding in meeting that challenge. The fact that it meets the challenge is an undeniable proof that Israelis regards these freedoms and human rights as no less important than their security. One has only to examine Israel's High Court decisions, which sometimes overrule the army's or the government's actions or intentions, to realize how much Democracy is a crucial component of Israeli civic identity. 

Prof. Menachem Hofnung, of the Hebrew University, who is a specialist on the matter, claims that Israel is a particular phenomenon. It is the only democratic country which has managed to maintain its Democracy intact for such a long time, while being under a constant state of emergency. The Israeli case is also unique in light of the fact that, modern democracies are rarely faced with an inner or external threat to the lives of their citizens or to the character of their regime. They rarely go to war and usually enjoy long periods of peace and stable international relations.

Well, not in democratic Israel. Our democracy has survived not only external threats, which usually bear the affect of uniting the different political and social groups in order to eliminate the threat, but also internal, which can bring about the end of democracy.

Israel's democracy is still very much alive and kicking, despite external and internal threats. This can be attributed to us Israelis, the voters who decide the character and direction of the only real democracy in our region, and the cadre that supplies the much-appreciated and enlightened judges for our judicial system, which stands tall, guarding the tower of our Democracy.

So, bear this in mind when forming your conclusion about us Israelis.