Democracy without environmental parties: The Israeli experience

Israel is one of the few democracies where no environmental party has emerged. This article addresses the reasons for this conspicuous absence. There are four explanations for the emergence of such parties: economic affluence, environmental degradation, public awareness of environmental problems, and a political setting favouring the establishment of new parties, namely, a proportional electoral system and party funding. In Israel all these conditions are prevalent, but environmental parties have failed to emerge owing to two additional explanations: a successful environmental movement reluctant to turn into a party, and a value system relegating the environment to a low place on the political agenda. The prominence of security, the anti-ecological tradition, and the search for identity has ruled out mobilization for an environmental party.