Britannia Radio

Public Opinion: Does it Matter in Israel?

Prof. Paul Eidelberg

If Israel is an authentic democracy, public opinion should influence the policies of its governments on issues of national concern. Well, it doesn't! But what is “public opinion”?

There are four types of public opinion. The first is "media-generated." It is usually transient and doesn’t require much thought or discussion. People read a newspaper or watch a talk-show and come away with opinions. Since Israel's media is dominated by the Left, we should expect public opinion to be left-wing oriented, but it isn't! Election results show that public opinion is right of center, and has been for decades. But if this is so, common sense or logic would indicate that Israel is not an authentic democracy despite its multiparty periodic elections.

A second type of public opinion is "party-generated." This type is manifested during election campaigns, when diverse political parties discuss various issues and offer the electorate alternative public policies. Although these policies are usually stated in general terms, those of the winning party may be said to approximate public opinion. In Israel, however, parties readily violate their campaign platforms because their candidates are not individually accountable to the voter in constituency elections. We saw this in October 2004when 23 Likud MKs, contrary to their campaign pledges, voted for withdrawal from Gaza. More evidence that Israel is not an authentic democracy.

A third type of public opinion is "government-generated." It emerges from the kind of public inquiry and discussion occurring in legislative committees and assemblies, executive agencies, and judicial bodies. This type of public opinion may be said to reflect the deliberate sense of the community. It is subject to change, but not as rapidly or as readily as media-generated or party-generated opinion. The trouble is that Israel's government not only ignored the warnings of its highest defense and intelligence officials against withdrawal from Gaza, but it simply fails to articulate a rational and coherent national policy. Thus, on the all-important territorial issue, public opinion in Israel has long been in a state of confusion.

A fourth type of public opinion is "tradition-generated." It consists of a nation's basic beliefs and values, which are more or less unquestioned. Obviously, a nation cannot long endure or retain its identity if its government-generated opinions are in conflict with its tradition-generated opinions. But this means that a government may be at war with its nation's heritage. This is the case in Israel today, as I shall now show by three examples.

Example 1. In professional polls conducted shortly before the June 1992 elections—the elections that brought the Labor government of Yitzhak Rabin to power—55% of Israel'sJewish population (excluding the 150,000 Jewish residents of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza) believed that these areas ought to "remain under Israeli rule, even if this meant hindering the peace process." Only 33% favored Labor's policy of "land for peace." Consistent therewith, Rabin promised he would not negotiate with the PLO. Once in office, however, the Rabin government engaged in clandestine negotiations with the PLO, which led to the disastrous Oslo Agreement.

Example 2. In the May 1996 election, Benjamin Netanyahu led the public to believe that he would not follow the Oslo Agreement, but that is precisely what he did after the election.

Example 3. In the January 2003 election, the Likud Party won a stunning victory over Labor. At least 70 percent of the public voted against Labor's policy of unilateral withdrawal from Gaza. Yet, the victorious Likud Party adopted and implemented Labor's policy in August 2005. This means that the Sharon government nullified the 2003 election and made a mockery of democracy—one of the great myths of our time.

So we see that public opinion in Israel has no discernible effect on the government's territorial policy—its most vital national issue. Hence, it's futile to belabor the obvious fact that the media in this country is dominated by the left. This is well known even to a large majority of Israel's high school students! Surely it's time for serious political analysts to stop saying or suggesting that Israel is a democracy and to start editorializing or campaigning for a real democracy.