Israeli society, with an emphasis on the elites, is characterized by a grumbling displeasure. Some of it is anchored in the Jewish legacy: a people persecuted for thousands of years that only a few generations ago went through the worst thing imaginable is conditioned to be more sensitive when it comes to identifying signs of threat; a people expert in identifying new opportunities develops at the same time an oversensitivity to signs of an eroding advantage and looming impasse. Another part of this has to do with Israel's exceptional success – a small, threatened state, which until two generations ago was poor, undeveloped, and depended on outside actors for its existence – populated by a people that only recently gathered here, still isn't used to its status in the Middle East and the world as an established regional power and a leaders in important fields, and has clung to old anxieties.
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Another, more important and unfortunate, of the feeling of dissatisfaction has to do with Israeli reality being judged without an appropriate context for comparison. Aspiring to what is most desirable demands a formula that takes into account the limitations that prevent it from being implemented. Successes and failure can be judged through relevant comparison to the success of the "best" and most impressive societies that uphold similar cultural and values systems. Assessing the reality in Israel without making this kind of comparison is not only analytically perverted, but also too easy on processes of construction and reform.
The most obvious example is democracy. Even after we dismiss the hysteric babble about "fascism," the collapse of democracy, and an "Erdogan-like" rule in Israel; many are worried – rightfully – about the political system's pathetic state of functioning. From a base of authoritarian dummy parties to the wretched level of many of their candidates, to the failure to ensure a stable majority for any path and the sectorial price paid as a result. In the shadow of the frustration at all this once can despair about parliamentary politics, protest by waving pink and black flags and absurd displays among a cohort of doubtful partners and loudly demonstrate outside the homes of politicians and high-level functionaries. It is also possible to long for "clean politics," unknowingly serving manipulative politicians from the other camp, or suggest remedies that are worse than the malady: legislation that will fix politics and effectively hand the State Attorney's Office and the court the rest of the authority and independence that remains to the elected system. This could happen, but it would be either damage or "occupational therapy."
Anyone who seriously wants to tackle the problem in Israel should put it in the context of the broad crisis in democracy throughout the world. Doing so will convince people that in the new age of social media and the brutal battle for the attention of the masses, going back to the parties' and their activists' previous recipe is not an option. The primaries method recently brought Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Biden to the forefront of the political stage in a nation of 330 million people. This past January, a riotous mob staged a siege on Capitol Hill. In London, the British "mother of parliaments" experienced tricks that put the maneuvering in Jerusalem in their back pocket. For years, German politics has failed to attract a majority for any given path, even under Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has a rare political gift. In France, the current party system has fallen apart without any viable replacement. Israel is in "good" company.
The bad news is that the democratic system adapting itself to the new age of populist shallowness entails a long and frustrating process. A wide-reaching collection of necessary adjustments, such as splitting the roles of Israel's attorney general, will gradually fix certain problems, but in the immediate future there does not appear to be any comprehensive move that ensures that the system functions better. Even nostalgia isn't what it used to be: in the past, too, the democratic system took a very long time to adjust to deep-seated social changes.
The good news is that in all the established democracies – the US, Britain, France, Germany, and many others – the system has proven that it is strong enough to put minds at rest when it comes to most national challenges, an allows civil society to function well with any real risk to the sovereignty of the people and basic liberties. Israel is one of these.
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