Are you a Jew or a Democrat?

A few days ago, yet again, the false choice was put before Jewish Israelis: do you want Israel to be more “Jewish” or more “democratic”? It is a question that pollsters use, and this time they asked Israeli Jewish high schoolers to take their pick (this was for The Dov Lautman Conference on Educational Policy).

So the high schoolers made their choice, as instructed, and the expected reaction was not late to follow. Since the choice was 41% for Jewish and 25% for democratic, the cries of doom from responsible adults seemed natural. you are probably familiar with this tune: Israel’s democracy is in danger, or it is going down the drain, more education is needed, more funds and more NGO’s that promote democratic values, Israel it turning into Iran, and so on and so forth.

This false choice of “Jewish” versus “democratic” is not unique to this latest survey of teenagers. Israel’s Democracy Institute (IDI) asks this question every year, and it is indeed interesting to see that the answer today is different from the one given a couple of years ago. In the last five years, there was a significant decline in the column of people saying that both “Jewish and democratic” are “both equally” important to them. From 48% in 2010 to 24% today (the question is: “Israel is defined as both a Jewish and a democratic state. Which part of this definition is more important to you personally?” – it is important to note that the answer “both” is not offered but rather volunteered; the choices put before the respondents are “Jewish” and “democratic”).

While the “both” column has gone down, the two polar choices have gone up (see it here, page 25). 39% choose “Jewish”, up from 32% five years ago. 34% choose “democratic”, up from 17% five years ago. Israel in 2015 might be slightly more “Jewish” than it was five years ago, but it is much more “democratic” and certainly – most vividly – much more polarized.

For a while now I’ve been having a debate with wise colleagues on the meaning of these numbers. They think that the numbers are alarming, that they are yet another proof that Israel’s democracy is in danger because of right-wing-religious tendencies. These people, they say, don’t much care for democracy.

This fits nicely with the breakout of numbers in the polls. The breakout indicates that the desired character of the state “correlates strongly with location on the political/security spectrum: The left shows an unmistakable preference for the democratic component (72.1%), while the right clearly favors the Jewish element (59%)”. Also: “the religious groups (including the traditional religious) emphasize the Jewishness of the state, whereas the secular respondents clearly prefer the democratic component”.

So yes – the doom interpretation fits nicely with the numbers, and also, admittedly, with the agenda of the analysts from the secular left.

It does not fit nicely with me. I find the question problematic – a question similar to “who you like best, mom or dad?” – and the answer is accordingly problematic. If you like mom “more”, does that mean you don’t like your dad? Can you not like both? In other words: if a person says “Jewish”, does it mean that he doesn’t care about “democracy”? Why would we make such an assumption?

There is an underlying assumption behind the analysts’ common understanding of the answer to this question – an assumption that is problematic for two reasons.

One – the analysts assume that it is a problem for someone to put more value on “Jewish” than on “democratic”. Two – the analysts assume that there is a contradiction, or a collision, between these two essentials.

But it is allowed. A person is allowed to put more value on “Jewish” (or “democratic”) – and there is no problem with that. It is allowed, among other things, because there is no contradiction between Jewish and democratic, and no foreseeable future in which Israelis should expect to have to make a terrible choice between these two principles. Thus, there is no need for anyone to currently make such a daunting choice – and if people are still forced to make the choice, both options are acceptable.

So why is it, you ask, that so many people used to say “both” and now say one of the two?

There are essentially two ways to understand this phenomenon.

The alarmist will tell you that Israel, in the last five years, has become less democratic. That what we see in the poll is the right-religious camp abandoning the values of “democracy” and flocking to the “Jewish” pole (under a rightwing religious government).

I don’t buy this explanation for several reasons. One – because I don’t see anything that happened in the last five years that can explain such a sudden change. Two – because it does not explain the dramatic rise in the number of Israelis who now say “democratic”. Three – because there is a better explanation.

Here it is:

The choice of respondents to this question does not reflect a shift in the right-religious respondents’ attitude toward “democracy”. It also does not reflect an abandonment of “Jewish” principles on the part of secular-leftist Israelis. For both groups, it reflects mostly polarization – partisanship. Israeli leftists are alarmed by this question and flock to defend “democracy” from the supposed dangers posed by the right. Right-wing Israelis are alarmed by the question and flock to defend “Jewish” Israel from the supposed dangers posed  by the secular left. There is a vicious cycle at play here: In both groups, the leaders made an excellent choice – bad for Israel but good for their partisan agendas – in convincing the masses that their cherished values are about to disappear. The masses adhered to the call, and in answering the pollsters they give a definite answer (“Jewish” or “democratic”) that reflects the need to bolster “their” side of the political map. Analysts look at these polls and find an ultimate proof that indeed, Israel is losing its democratic soul. And then the leaders can use the analysis to further their call for partisanship.

That is why more rightwing-religious Israelis say “Jewish” instead of saying “both”. That’s why more leftist-secularists say “democratic” instead of saying “both”.

In this case – and obviously this isn’t the only case – polls do not reflect the reality that that some people presume them to reflect. Israel is very Jewish. Israel is also very democratic (and yes, I am talking only about the state of Israel, not about the West Bank – that’s a different story). On the margins, there are leftist seculars who do not want Israel to be Jewish. That’s fine – a healthy society should be able to tolerate a marginal minority who has radical views. On the margins, there are also rightwing religionists who don’t much care for democracy. Israel is strong enough to be able to contain them.       

And as for those high schoolers: try taking away from them their freedom of speech and their right  to vote and see if they care. Polls aside, I bet they do.

A Hebrew version of this article was published last week in Maariv Daily.