Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to the Knesset last week on the 63rd anniversary of its founding. Here is a translation of his remarks, worth reading in their entirety:
Israeli democracy is vibrant and free. There is no democracy more wonderful. Despite all the threats the State of Israel faces, we maintain an exemplary democracy and the heart of Israeli democracy is here in the Knesset. Sixty-three years ago, during the Tu B'Shvat celebrations, the Knesset of Israel gathered for the first time in the Jewish Agency building in Jerusalem. It was a time of ups and downs and of fears, a time of beginnings and growth. The 120 new representatives of the people planted trees on the path leading to the city and later they also planted the foundations of Israeli democracy. The first President of the State, Chaim Weizmann, spoke at that session about the entire world's expectations and said: "The world's watching eyes are now looking upon us to see what path we lay out as we arrange our lives, what image is being shaped for our country; its ears are waiting to hear if new tidings will emerge from Zion."
Distinguished members, 63 years after those words were spoken, we can say clearly and with resolve what tidings have emerged from Zion: a stable and prosperous Israeli democracy; a democracy which has room for arguments and agreements; a democracy which has checks and balances, a legislative body, an executive body and a judicial body (and we have one of the best legal systems in the world and it will remain that way). We respect minority rights and freedom for all without differentiating between religion, race and sex. We have a democracy that withstands the tests and rigors of criticism – by the way, criticism not only domestic but internationally as well. There is no other democracy that is watched more closely, examined so much more that at times it seems that it is being overanalyzed. It is unheard of. We have a democracy that withstands all this; a democracy that repairs itself in an endless process of self-examination, discussion and, if needed, of decisiveness.
I know that there are those who claim that Israeli democracy is in danger. I do not agree with that statement. There are those who complain about the public disagreement here, about the proposed laws that are introduced and retracted, but there is no better proof of the robustness of Israel's democracy than these disagreements and these decisions, than the fact that any individual can criticize here, including the Prime Minister and sometimes even presidents. The fact that anything can be said or discussed here is the best proof of Israeli democracy's strength.
Ladies and gentlemen, when we look at all that is happening around us, in our stormy region, and even when we look further at other democracies – admired democracies like those of the United States and Britain – in times of war, they severely limited civilian rights and personal freedoms, something we have never done. So when we look near and far, we certainly can be proud. There are those who mistakenly consider the holding of elections as an aspect of democracy, but true democracies are truly tested during periods between election, by the way we uphold the justice system, individual rights, freedom of expression, balance between the three branches of government and above all, by the health and strength of our parliament, this house, the Knesset of Israel. In this house, where anything may be proposed, discussed and argued over, it is permissible and even healthy that the opposition fights the elected government.
The importance of these democratic institutions is even more obvious against the background of the upheavals the Middle East is experiencing. We are all asking ourselves what the wave of Islam washing over the Arab people will bring. We all hope real democracies will be established and grow, and the question that should be asked is whether these democracies are one-time phenomena or a democracy that shrinks and disappears between elections. We need to know if respectable and serious institutions will be established to preserve the democracy. Will institutions be established that can withstand the difficult tests any democracy faces? I think it is too soon to tell.
The basic idea of the contract between elected officials and the ruling regime, an idea introduced by the English philosopher Locke, is an idea that has not penetrated vast sections of the world, and certainly not the Middle East. The idea is that he who is elected to rule is granted that rule in trust and returns it and there are limits on the time one rules and on the use of the tools of rule – this is not an obvious idea and it does not find expression and realization in elections alone. This is why we cannot yet know what will happen around us. We know that the test of a democracy's stabilization, in the full sense of the word, is a very difficult test and we can only hope that our neighbors succeed.
My friends, there are actions by extremists in every country, but the test of a true democracy is the way in which it responds to those actions. When we encounter serious incidents like exclusion of women or "price tag" attacks, Israeli democracy is obligated to condemn these incidents and work against them sharply and forcefully. We acted in this manner, and we will continue to act in this manner. Unfortunately, amongst our neighbors there are those who choose to act differently.
I would like to refer specifically to the Palestinian Authority. I said it had to choose, as the President of the State also said, between the path of Hamas and the path of peace, but we saw recently that the Palestinian Authority chose to avoid acting against extremists and even chose
to embrace them. At the same time, its official institutions and its official media channels, which are controlled by the PA, encourage incitement against the Jews, allow anti-Semitic statements under the protection of rule and forge alliances with terrorist organizations that call for the destruction of Israel. We can only hope that they will choose to follow a different path. …
I would like to say two more things to the members of Knesset on this occasion, and also perhaps to the public. … I am not naïve, I don't expect elected MKs to speak as if they were in the English House of Lords – but I do think it can be expected that we act with respect for each other and speak to the point (it may be sharp, but as long as it is to the point and not in slanderous language or personal attacks). I ask this of myself and usually I act in this manner. …
Israel's population is a mosaic of publics – secular and religious, ultra-Orthodox, new immigrants and veteran citizens, Ashkenazim and Sepharadim, Jews, Muslims, Druze and Circassians, Beduoin. We are the young country of an ancient people that has gathered from many Diasporas, and often members of Knesset, even Knesset factions, represent these various populations loyally and with devotion – and there is nothing wrong with that. This is the nature of democracy, especially a representative democracy like ours – to balance between various needs.
Today I ask of all of us, all members of Knesset, to remember that in addition to our being representatives of certain publics, we are first and foremost public representatives – the entire public. We bear the responsibility for the fate of the entire country and the future of the people of Israel. This was the clear mission of the 120 members of the first Knesset and it should be the mission that guides us all today on this day of celebration for the Knesset. The seedlings planted by the first members of Knesset have grown and become a democracy that we can all be proud of, and in the shade of these seedlings, we can all take shelter.