does netanyahu really believe in democracy? global freedom...
TRANSCRIPT
2020-04-06 13)27Does Netanyahu really believe in democracy? Global freedom experts aren't sure - Opinion - Haaretz.com
Sida 1 av 7https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-does-netanyahu-really-believe-in-democracy-global-freedom-indexes-aren-t-sure-1.8712762
How Judaism handledepidemics down the ages
To stay younger for longer,make this change to your diet
Neo-Nazis, rabbis and rape:Art project got out of hand
Basque ancient art changesunderstanding of prehistoricsocieties
Trending Now
Home > Israel News
Opinion // Does Netanyahu ReallyBelieve in Democracy? Global FreedomExperts Aren't SureTunisia speeds past Israel’s ailing democracy, even before COVID-19. Netanyahu has‘anti-democratic tendencies.’ Hungary and Poland protect civil liberties better: How thebig three democracy indexes assess Israel
Mar 29, 2020 4:05 PM
Protesters, waving black flags, demonstrate against 'weakening Israel's democracy' under cover of the coronavirus crisis near the Knesset inJerusalem, March 23 2020 Credit: Ohad Zwigenberg
With the release of V-Dem’s democracy report last Friday, all the
Anders Persson | Send me email alerts
2 Zen 1058 Tweet
Trending Now
Amid NationwideShortage, IsraelisScramble for Eggs
Coronavirus, SaudisForce Moscow toFreeze Plans forMiddle EastDomination
‘There Will Be aRevolt’: Life UnderLockdown in Israel’sHaredi CoronavirusHot Spot
LISTEN: HarediLeaders Learn HarshCorona Lesson asIsrael Sends in theTroops
Monday, April 06, 2020. Nisan 12, 5780 Time in Israel: 2:26 PM
Search
Israel News All sections Coronavirus Masks Day after ultra-Orthodox Netanyahu 'deep state' Iran Moscow Qatar
2020-04-06 13)27Does Netanyahu really believe in democracy? Global freedom experts aren't sure - Opinion - Haaretz.com
Sida 2 av 7https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-does-netanyahu-really-believe-in-democracy-global-freedom-indexes-aren-t-sure-1.8712762
three big democracy rating indexes have published their yearlyreports for 2020 (their data covers 2019). It is bleak reading – andthat does not count the likely even more negative fallout for theworld’s democracies that may emerge from the COVID-19 pandemicand the economic recession that will surely follow.
The three reports unanimously paint a picture of intensifyingautocratization around the world - from Brazil to India to the U.S. toEurope - with Hungary now being the first non-democratic MemberState of the EU.
According to V-Dem’s latest report, the majority or the world’sstates are no longer democracies and only 46 percent of the world’spopulation are now living in electoral and liberal democracies.Freedom House’s flagship publication, the "Freedom in the WorldReport for 2020," found that 2019 was the 14th consecutive year ofdecline in global freedom.
— Advertisement —
All regime types were affected by this decline and more than half ofthe countries that were rated Free or Not Free in 2009 have suffereda net decline in the past decade, according to Freedom House. TheEconomist Democracy Index reported the worst average globalscore since the index was first produced in 2006.
So how did Israel fare in this dark hour for liberal democracy? Likelast year, Israel ‘s scores were a mixed bag; from again receiving itsworst rating ever from Freedom House, to receiving the same,relatively bad rating from V-Dem as it received last year, to againreceiving its best rating ever from The Economist Democracy Index.The discrepancies can be explained by looking at the various ratingindexes measurements and methodologies, which all rely on expertcoding.
Freedom House, the most well-known of the big three ratingindexes, gave Israel its worst rating ever since its flagshippublication the Freedom in the World began in 1973. FreedomHouse lowered Israel’s aggregated score from 78/100 last year to76/100 this year.
Related tags: CoronavirusIsraeli politics , Benjamin Netanyahu
Trending Now
Silence of ultra-Orthodox Politicians inIsrael Betrayed, Imperiled Their OwnCommunityAnshel Pfeffer | Yesterday
Double Whammy Could Cost Israel andIran Their Key Gulf State ContactSebastian Castelier | 2 Hours Ago
15
2020-04-06 13)27Does Netanyahu really believe in democracy? Global freedom experts aren't sure - Opinion - Haaretz.com
Sida 3 av 7https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-does-netanyahu-really-believe-in-democracy-global-freedom-indexes-aren-t-sure-1.8712762
●
●
●
●
Freedom House rating for Israel, 2019 Credit: Twitter
The decline in Israel’s rating took place in the category "Functioningof Government" because the two successive elections in 2019 (plusone this year) failed to produce a new government, leaving theexisting government in place as a caretaker. Israel’s rating was alsodowngraded because caretaker Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu, who was indicted on multiple corruption charges in2019, refused to step down and instead ran for reelection, whileattacking the credibility of law enforcement institutions.
Related Articles
Knesset mutiny, produced and directed by Netanyahu, willlive in infamyAmerican Jews don't care that Israel's democracy isfalling apartNetanyahu dispatches his mercenaries to thrash Israel'stop courtBattling with Tunisia, better than Poland: How Israel'sdemocracy measures up
The Freedom in the World 2020 report noted that "Israel’s scorehas slipped six points, an unusually large decline for an establisheddemocracy." In fact, since 2011, Freedom House’s reports havewarned about successive anti-democratic laws that were advancedor enacted in the Israeli parliament.
The latest report also came down hard on Netanyahu personally byaccusing him of having "anti-democratic tendencies." These ant-idemocratic tendencies were laid bare for all to see in the past weekwhen Netanyahu and his Likud party managed to postpone his trialand frantically tried to suspend the Israeli parliament from properlyfunctioning in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sign up
Breaking news and analyses in your inbox
Promoted content
WATCH // Drone Footage ShowsIsrael's Most Crowded City UnderCoronavirus CurfewHaaretz | 4 Hours Ago
Hezbollah Official Who Tracked IsraeliCollaborators Found Murdered, GroupSaysJack Khoury | Yesterday
Startup Nation: Take a lookat Israel's High-Teach Map
"It’s Time to Break the MythAbout Medical Cannabis"
Spared So Far, Israel's ArabCommunity Fears Ramadan CouldSpark OutbreakNir Hasson | 19 Hours Ago
Coronavirus Tips: How to Wear a MaskCorrectlyRuth Schuster | Yesterday
2
2020-04-06 13)27Does Netanyahu really believe in democracy? Global freedom experts aren't sure - Opinion - Haaretz.com
Sida 4 av 7https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-does-netanyahu-really-believe-in-democracy-global-freedom-indexes-aren-t-sure-1.8712762
All of this, of course, raises serious questions: Are the Likud partyand the (caretaker) prime minister really true democrats?
V-Dem, the most academic of the three rating indexes, ranksIsrael as holding the 49th place out of 179 countries on its LiberalDemocracy Index. Israel’s score was marginally improved comparedto last year, but what was most surprising about this year’s reportwas that Tunisia made a great leap forward to placing itself 41 out of179 on the Liberal Democracy Index. This means that Tunisia nowranks as the most liberal and democratic country in the Middle Easton V-Dem’s ranking, seven places in front of Israel; Kuwait(106/179) is the region’s distant third.
A somewhat different picture emerges, as usual, from TheEconomist Democracy Index, which historically has ranked Israelhigher than the other two indexes. Israel is well ahead of Tunisia onboth The Economist’s and Freedom House’s indexes. This yearIsrael is ranked 28 out of 167, and it actually received its bestaggregated score ever in this year’s index from The Economist.
How The Economist has rated Israel's democracy 2006-2019 Credit: Anders Persson
V-Dem Institute@vdeminstitute
@vdeminstitute #dataset & #DemocracyReport are out! It shows that #autocratization accelerates in the #world: #autocracies are now in the majority: covering 92 countries & 54% of the world population. Dataset: bit.ly/2vA818D Democracy Report: bit.ly/2weDL3K
113 11:31 AM - Mar 20, 2020
103 people are talking about this
Israel Slashes Coronavirus Tests asSupply From Germany, South KoreaRuns ShortIdo Efrati | Yesterday
The Day After Coronavirus in IsraelIdo Efrati | 22 Hours Ago
Gantz to Ask President Rivlin forExtension in Forming GovernmentJonathan Lis | 20 Hours Ago
How Monsey Became a Center ofHasidic Life in AmericaDavid B. Green | 29.12.2019
How Do You Export Cannabis in theTime of Coronavirus?Ruth Schuster | 19 Hours Ago
1
2020-04-06 13)27Does Netanyahu really believe in democracy? Global freedom experts aren't sure - Opinion - Haaretz.com
Sida 5 av 7https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-does-netanyahu-really-believe-in-democracy-global-freedom-indexes-aren-t-sure-1.8712762
The reason for this is that Israel improved, somewhat paradoxicallyin this author’s opinion, in the category "Functioning ofGovernment," despite the fact that Israel has not had a functioninggovernment for the past year. Also, worth noting is that Israel scoreslow in the "Civil Liberties" category, which is a common theme in allthe three indexes. In The Economist Democracy Index, Israel’s CivilLiberties score is exactly the same as Tunisia, but far lower than allthe EU Member States, even including Hungary and Poland.
Just like Netanyahu is widely considered, in the words of FreedomHouse’s report, to be "at the vanguard of nationalistic andchauvinistic populism," he may turn out to be at the vanguard ofmanipulating the COVID-19 pandemic to prolong his stay in officeas well. Leading democracy experts are currently warning thatthe COVID-19 pandemicis a golden opportunity for would beautocrats to consolidate their hold on power by imposingrestrictions on their societies. Some of them are already pointingfingers at Netanyahu.
As for the threats to Israel’s democracy, the internal data from Israelcan be read in two ways. One is negative, where there is anincreasing fear that Israel’s democracy is in grave danger. Accordingto data from the Israel Democracy Institute, the total number ofIsraelis who felt "very much" that their country’s democracy is ingrave danger rose by almost 50 percent from 22.5 percent of thetotal population in 2018 to 32 percent of the population in 2019.
A staggering 84.5 percent of Israeli Jews defined as left-wing, 68percent of those in the center, while just 29 percent of those to theright agree (very much or quite a lot) that Israeli democracy is ingrave danger.
A protest outside the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem against the 'assault on democracy', Thursday, March 19,2020. Credit: Eyal Warshavsky,AP
On the other hand, Israel has just gone through three highlycontested, free and fair elections in less than year, with increasingturnouts in the last two, especially among the Arab minority. All ofthis must be seen as evidence of the strength of Israel’s democraticcharacter. The support among Israelis for key institutions such as
unikum tattoo
tatuerings studion i Göteborg
Ad
Security & Aviation
Flex Repair
Glukosaminbluffen
Ad
As CoronavirusStrikes, Iran Forcedto Rethink Its ProxyWars
Israeli SecurityOfficials DreadHaving to Handle aGaza CoronavirusOutbreak
Syria Conflict IsShifting From a ProxyWar to a Clash ofSuperpowers
Mossad Chief VisitedDoha, Urged Qatar toContinue HamasFinancial Aid
Sponsored Content
Mansion GlobalRising From the Desert: Luxury Living NearCalifornia’s Joshua Tree
2020-04-06 13)27Does Netanyahu really believe in democracy? Global freedom experts aren't sure - Opinion - Haaretz.com
Sida 6 av 7https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-does-netanyahu-really-believe-in-democracy-global-freedom-indexes-aren-t-sure-1.8712762
the Supreme Court is still almost four times higher than for thepolitical parties, according to the Israel Democracy Institute.
Alongside the democratic decline and intensifying autocratization inthe world, all the three rating indexes reported massive upswingsfor popular protests across the world - from the Americas, to Africaand the Middle East, to Asia, to Europe and Russia. V-Dem writesthat 2019 was without a doubt the "year of global protests" with pro-democracy protests rising to an all-time high. FreedomHouse argues that the protests movements reflect "the inexhaustibleand universal desire for fundamental rights."
There can be little doubt that the present situation in Israel reflectsthese global trends, with pro-democracy protests outside theKnesset last week and this, alongside warnings from manyprominent commentators, including President Reuven Rivlin, thatIsrael’s democracy is under threat.
It is still too early to say how the present constitutional crisis inIsrael will play out – and how far the coronavirus crisis will pushlegal and political norms to their limits, or beyond them. But what iscertain is that while there are multiplying dangers for liberaldemocracy, there is still a substantial popular will to fight for it, inIsrael and around the world.
Anders Persson is a political scientist at Linnaeus University,Sweden, specializing in EU-Israel/Palestinerelations. Twitter: @82AndersPersson
Anders Persson
Send me email alerts!
You Might also Like
Opinion
Gantz, have you no red linesat all? | Opinion
News
In the battle againstcoronavirus, Israel was bothearly enough and too late
Sponsored - Mansion Global
Dallas Cowboys Owner JerryJones Splashes Out onSuperyacht
Sponsored - Conflict of Nations |Dorado Games
This WW3 strategy game willkeep you entertained forweeks!
News
The silence of ultra-Orthodoxpoliticians in Israel betrayedand imperiled their own…
Science & Health
Israelis told to wear facemasks in public. Here’s howto do it
Sponsored - Tech Advice 24
Landskrona: Why Are PeopleGoing Crazy Over ThisInexpensive Smartwatch?
Sponsored - Far and Wide
Maps That Are So TerribleThey’re Hilarious
Recommended by
E20 SmartwatchStylish New SmartWatch Keeps Track OfVital Health Signs
Trendingstock TodaySuper Successful Billionaires Who DroppedOut of Harvard
IBM[Forrester report] Discover the benefits ofusing both IBM and Red Hat solutions
Sponsored
�
2020-04-06 13)27Does Netanyahu really believe in democracy? Global freedom experts aren't sure - Opinion - Haaretz.com
Sida 7 av 7https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-does-netanyahu-really-believe-in-democracy-global-freedom-indexes-aren-t-sure-1.8712762
ICYMI
FAQContact usNewslettersTerms and conditionsPrivacy policyCancellation of DigitalSubscriptionsManagementEditorialAccessibilityAdvertise on Haaretz.comCookie Settings
Israel NewsIsrael Election 2019Middle EastJewish WorldU.S. NewsWorld NewsBusiness
PartnershipsHaaretz LabelsIsrael Real EstateStart-Up Nation CentralSushi Restaurants in Tel Aviv
ArchaeologyLifeScienceSports
CultureEurovision 2019BooksTravelTheaterMovies and TVFoodPoem of the Week
ColumnistsChemi ShalevAllison Kaplan SommerAnshel PfefferDavid Rosenberg
OpinionEditorialCartoonLetters to the Editor
Special Coverage
5
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and theMiddle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, theWest Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
© Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All Rights Reserved
Comments
Add a comment
Sort comments by Newest first Expand all
Falcon | 10:22 27.03.2020He does
Lorraine | 20:15 26.03.2020The Public Is Also At Fault
2 0 0
1 0 0
How JudaismHandled EpidemicsDown the Ages
To Stay Younger forLonger, Make ThisChange to Your Diet
Neo-Nazis, Rabbisand Rape: Art ProjectGot Out of Hand
Basque Ancient ArtChangesUnderstanding of …
A Plot Against Islam?Coronavirus andConspiracies Hit …
Wanted: Arab Princeor King for Photo-opWith Netanyahu
We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and toanalyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our socialmedia, advertising and analytics partners. Privacy Policy
✓ Accept CookiesCookie Settings›