Israel's trilemma

The history of the creation of the political entity of Israel is tumultuous. It has been marked by ethnic cleansing, wars, terrorism and mass migrations. The story that began more than 75 years ago has never ended. That history revolves around Israel's foundational problem and what it wants to be.

Own elaboration. The triangle shows at each vertex, in order from left to right: Pluralistic democracy; Jewish nation state; annexation of Palestine.

As can be seen in the graph, Israel is faced with the question of which political path it wants to pursue, being able to choose only two of the options in the triangle. The original Zionist idea was to found a nation state for the Jews of the world. This political project is born not only from the historical anti-Semitism suffered in the countries where the Jewish population was part of the eternal minority, but also comes from the biblical idea of a lost people, divided and scattered around the globe. The tribes of biblical Israel, according to the Zionist theory, must return to Mount Zion to reestablish the unity of the chosen people. Under this justification the Hebrew state was built, however, not all the Jewish population is religious. The community itself recognizes itself as its own diverse national entity defined mainly by ancestry. Israel recognizes as a national anyone who has a Jewish grandparent (political or carnal).

The second edge of the triangle is for Israel to be constituted as a pluralistic democracy. Essential to this element is respect and basic guarantees for ethnic minorities. To date (on paper at least) this status has been respected with the recognition of Arab-Israeli citizens and the protection of their civil and political rights. In the Knesset (parliament) there have been Arab-Israeli and Islamic parties such as the United Arab List or Jadash, and they have even been part of Naftali Bennet's government in 2021 to 2022. To be a pluralist democracy, religious pluralism must also be respected, minorities must not be discriminated against and religious militancy criteria must not be established.

Finally, there is the annexation of the Palestinian territories, a process initiated in the so-called Nakba in 1947. This consists of not recognizing the two-state solution defended by the UN and formally by almost all the states of the world. To achieve this, all of Palestine (mainly the West Bank and Gaza) must be occupied and Israel must be the only recognized political actor.

The possible combinations of this trilemma are:

1. Theocratic state and apartheid: The combination of Jewish nation-state and annexation of Palestine is only possible through either the expulsion of the entire Arab-Israeli and Palestinian population or the establishment of ethno-religious discrimination. In 2018 the current Prime Minister Netanyahu pushed through the Jewish nation-state law by which Israel is defined as the nation-state of the Jewish people and denies the right of national self-determination of other ethno-cultural groups in Israel. At the same time, attempts to reform the judiciary and the legislature by the coalition government between the right and the extreme right underpin the authoritarian direction in which Israel is heading.

2. Multi-ethnic democracy: This combination of the annexation of Palestine and the establishment of a pluralist democracy must go hand in hand with a reform of the political system towards non-denominationalism. This path would mark a solution to the security problem in the Middle East through the adoption of a state where Palestinians and Israelis coexist on an equal footing. The predominance of Hebrew and the Jewish religion over the others would be eliminated and a system respectful of human rights and sensitive to the geographical situation would be established, the territory being a sacred place for all Abrahamic religions.

3. Two-state solution: This third combination would allow the constitution of a Jewish nation state and another for the Palestinians. By renouncing the annexation of more territories, Israel could become a democracy with a constitution (currently based on 13 basic laws) with internationally recognized borders and a democratic system based on the division of powers and respect for human rights.

   
   

   At present, support for the two-state solution is at an all-time low in both Israel and Palestine. The Israeli executive is in a constant struggle for its own survival and that of its prime minister. The resolution of the Israeli trilemma has turned toward theocracy and apartheid. First the reform towards the Jewish nation-state and, later, the reforms of the political system that seek to strengthen the executive towards a status incompatible with contemporary democracies draw a clear roadmap. Israel is heading towards authoritarianism and apartheid of the Palestinians.