דמוקרטיה ובושה - על אחריות אופקית ואנכית בפוליארכיה הישראלית

Over the first nine months of 2023, a significant part of the Israeli public engaged in mass rallies that reflected widespread popular opposition to the government’s plan to make fundamental changes in Israel’s legal system.Two words stood out in these rallies – “democracy” and “shame”. The events of October 7, 2023, sidelined the debate around the legal reform.However, the essential differences of opinion that evoked it continue to exist. Any future Israeli government will have to address them.The article explores the roots of this crisis by analyzing the two recurring chants – “democracy” and “shame”, and their attribution to the three components of polyarchy suggested by Guillermo O’Donnell– democracy, liberalism, and republicanism. It examines how the two opposing camps perceive these elements and attempts to uncover the roots of the crisis in the Israeli political ethos. To this end, it offers agenealogical-contextual analysis of these fundamental components and their connection to “democracy” and “shame”. I suggest that while the legal reform supporters attach top priority to vertical accountability, i.e.,the accountability of elected representatives to their constituents, the reform opponents fear losing horizontal accountability, i.e., the checks and balances without which a polyarchy could deteriorate into a nondemocratic and non-polyarchic regime.Similar to the public debate around the reform, the discussion in this article concerns only the area of Israel commonly referred to as the Green Line. The article begins by reviewing the fundamental concepts used in the discussion – democracy, polyarchy, liberalism, and republicanism and goes on to examine the place of each component in the founding ethos of Israeli society. The examination’s results enable analyzing the process Israeli society has undergone in recent decades.