Democracy doubts await Israel in 2012

Israeli policy-makers have launched numerous PR offensives over the past year to boost the image of the country internationally, but such efforts will prove futile in 2012 if Israel loses its claim to being the only genuine democracy in the Middle East, argues JN1 Producer Peter Dickinson.

There has been much talk over the past year about the need to counter mounting efforts to delegitimize Israel. Friends and advocates of Israel have argued that the country is in danger of losing the fight for global public opinion, a PR defeat which would have serious implications for Israel’s broader geopolitical position. The push to delegitimize Israel is generally attributed to the country’s international ideological enemies, whose swelling ranks today include growing webs of Islamist influence and many among the chattering classes of the secular, left-leaning West. But while there are no doubt many beyond Israel’s borders who wish the country ill and are actively engaged in undermining it internationally, the biggest PR problems Israel has faced in 2011 have almost all been home-grown. 

The most damaging headlines of the past twelve months have centred on the perceived threat to Israel’s democracy posed by a rising tide of Ultra-Orthodox conservatism. The ongoing controversy over gender segregation in Israeli life has allowed opponents of the country to portray it as just another Middle Eastern theocracy engaged in oppressing women, while bills targeting NGO funding and moving the libel law goalposts have raised concerns that the country is sleepwalking towards hard right conservative government. Hillary Clinton has publicly voiced her concerns, as have various EU leaders. Such diplomatic niceties are usually reserved for Israeli Palestinian policy – it is telling that in 2011 they have also been used to address fears for Israeli democracy itself.

Israel’s credibility as a Western-style democracy is crucial to its international image.

For as long as most people can remember, Israel has branded itself – with varying degrees of success - as the only democracy in the Middle East. This oft-made claim has proved particularly effective in winning over allies in the democratic West, where it has served to justify policies of support for Israel in the eyes of otherwise largely disinterested general publics. However, opponents of Israel will be quick to seize on any suggestion that the country’s democratic halo is slipping.

The Arab Spring has thrown up a direct challenge to Israel’s status as the sole democratic state in the region, but the embryonic democracies of Egypt, Tunisia and other Arab Spring nations will necessarily take decades to reach a level of social democratization which would be recognizable to Western audiences. The real threat to Israel’s democratic status does not come from the Arab Spring itself, but from within. It is a battle for the future direction and character of the country which has already begun and which is likely to dominate the domestic headlines for much of 2012, while also shaping international perceptions of the country. Israel’s democratic credentials make it an appealing ally for many in the West, but these credentials are likely to come in for considerable scrutiny in 2012 from friend and foe alike.