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by beltsazar 767 days ago
What do you mean? Israel ranks 30th in The Economist Democracy Index: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Economist_Democracy_Index

It's not great, but it's also far from what you said "democracy only in name."

1 comments

Israel currently denies the right to vote to more people that its government controls the lives of than it grants the right to vote for. This is because it wants to be both a Jewish (demography-first) and democratic (equal-representaition-first) state.

I'm very aware of why this is the case and the history. This is the current case on the ground. Palestinians do not have their own state (according to Israel), so they are occupied and have all their imports, exports, water usage, food intake, ability to earn money, etc. etc. regulated and controlled by a government they cannot vote for, while a minority of people on the other side of a wall can vote for that government.

That's a democracy in name only

Israel's government administers several territories with different legal statuses for their inhabitants:

Israeli citizens, including Arabs, Jews, and others within the borders recognized internationally as Israel, all have the right to vote. Residents of East Jerusalem, mostly Palestinians, are typically offered permanent residency status but not citizenship. They have the right to apply for citizenship, though it involves a complex process. They can vote in local elections but not in national elections unless they become citizens. Inhabitants of the West Bank are not Israeli citizens and do not have the right to vote in Israeli national elections. They are subject to some Israeli military law and some laws set by the Palestinian Authority. Gaza Strip is governed by Hamas, and the inhabitants do not have rights to vote in Israeli elections. Israel does not have administrative control over Gaza but does control most of its borders, airspace, and maritime access.

Yeah that's pretty much what I said, Palestinians are basically not in their own state and not voting citizens of Israel but controlled by Israel and the majority of native born people living under Israeli rule