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Law on Local Authority Elections: Racist Onslaught on Democracy

>> Read the full position paper in pdf

This position paper was written in response to two bills being discussed by the Knesset’s Interior Committee and Environmental Protection Committee. The proposed laws threaten Israeli democracy and the most fundamental democratic right: the right to vote and the right to be elected. They seek to change the rules of the game in the local arena and turn local councils into a political mechanism controlled by the coalition parties.

The bills propose to expand the option of disqualifying individuals and not just lists, as well as not only for actions but also for statements; to add “support for the armed struggle of an enemy state or a terrorist organization against the State of Israel” as grounds for disqualification; to establish a mechanism for the removal of a councilman on the same grounds as for disqualification from running in Knesset elections, with the approval of a majority of 75% of the council (10% of them opposition members) and of the Supreme Court; to introduce a caveat barring the appointment of anyone whose actions or statements denote support for the armed struggle of an enemy state/terrorist organization against the State of Israel and empowering the Minister of the Interior to cancel the appointment.

The proposed laws are primarily intended to serve inflammatory political campaigns, bring government control over local councils, and restrict the fundamental democratic rights to vote and be elected. If passed, these proposals will push the Arab minority out of politics through disproportionate disqualification mechanisms and racist campaigns, and will thwart the ability of the local arena to foster a democratic and pluralistic discourse. Hence, these proposals represent yet another step toward the normalization of Israel’s transition to an authoritarian regime.

Zulat strongly opposes the proposed laws, and sees them as serious violation of civil rights in Israel. These bills are not only an attack on democratic principles but also a dangerous move toward the centralization of political power and the exclusion of Arab citizens from Israeli politics. It is imperative to preserve the independence of local authorities as a democratic space representing the entire population, rather than as a tool serving the ruling parties.

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Dr. Maha Sabbah Karkabi

 

Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Tel Aviv University (2015), a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Gender Studies, SOAS, University of London (2015-2016), a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Sociology at Tel Aviv University (2016-2017), and a postdoctoral fellowship Ph.D. at the Humphrey Institute for Social Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (2018-2020).
Dr. Maha Karbahi’s areas of interest focus on the connection between social change, family behavior, and gender inequality in societies in the process of change and specifically in Palestinian Arab society in Israel. Her research draws attention to the study of family life and employment, using a combined “ethnic lens” and “gender lens” and paying attention to the perspective of Palestinian Arab women, a group characterized by intersections between multiple marginal locations, which over the years has remained hidden from the research eye. Dr. Karkabi-Sabah’s research is published in professional journals and chapters in scientific books that are considered pioneers in family research, work, and gender equality.

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Prof. Frances Raday

Professor Emeritus in the Lieberman Chair in Labor Law, in the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University and serves as a full professor in the College of Management’s academic track, where she also serves as chair of the graduate program and as honorary president of the Concord Center for International Law Absorption. Radai was a member of a working group of the UN Human Rights Council on discrimination against women. In addition, she is a prominent and feminist human rights activist.

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Dr. Rawia Aburabia 

Faculty member of Sapir Academic College’s School of Law, received her PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research deals with the interface between law, gender, minorities, and human rights. Has published in leading journals on the subject of the matrimonial laws pertaining to Muslim women in Israel. Her book Under the Law, Outside Justice: Polygamy, Gendered Citizenship, and Colonialism in Israeli Law is expected to be published as part of the Gender Series of Kibbutz Meuhad Publishing House.

Dr. Aburabia has extensive experience in international human rights and public law. She has worked as a jurist for the Association for Civil Right and has been invited as a specialist to address such international forums as the United Nations and the European Parliament on the subject of indigenous communities and minority rights. She has interned with Human Rights Watch in Washington DC, and has been a member of the executive board of Amnesty International. In 2018, she was selected by the magazine Globes as one of the 40 most promising young persons in Israel under the age of 40.

 

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Ron Kessler

With over two decades of experience in the field of digital content, Ron has participated in numerous political and social campaigns. He helped run the digital activity of senior public officials, and worked in various NGOs. Ron is a fundamentally optimistic man, who believes that Israel can be changed and so can people. Lives in Tel Aviv.