Democracy, Truth and Government

Results of a survey recently publicized by the Israel Institute for Democracy indicate that Israel's political regime displays formal democracy but has yet to incorporate the substantive characteristics of democracy. Among the survey's findings: a decline in the rate of the Jewish public's support for democratic behavioral norms, democratic systems and values as well as a reduction in their support for equal rights for the Arab minority.

The problem-solving mechanisms applied by the Israeli government are aggressive and essentially break the rules of democratic practice. Israel suffers from flagrant social inequity and a system of governance that injures the weak and supports the strong. In return, the economic elites compensate politicians by contributing to their (re)flection, behavior that creates the politics-government nexus. No wonder the survey found deterioration in the level of public faith in the majority of public institutions.