[ari_]

Israel is not exactly a western country. It's a mostly parliamentary democracy, with military rule in the areas of Judea and Samaria. In addition, the law (even inside the 1948 armistice line), is patchwork of Ottoman, British and Israeli law, with many rules still being enforced that were originally promulgated by the British Mandate.

Finally, the country was founded mostly by eastern europeans with a strong socialist ethic, and doesn't have the same genetic code that democracy in the USA has. So for example: You can be detained indefinitely without habeas corpus inside Judea and Samaria, and it's a little bit more complicated in the rest of Israel (if you read hebrew this article gives a good overview http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%A2%D7%A6%D7%A8_%D7%9E...)