A disaster for Israel's democracy

Annexation means the unequal and discriminatory legal system in the West Bank could be made formal and permanent. With the imprimatur of the Trump administration, Israel would maintain its current dual and unequal legal regime in perpetuity, denying most Palestinians citizenship, the vote, and their basic civil rights, as well as any hope for a better future. 

 

An entrenched occupation cannot be disentangled from the destructive trends that are deepening in the fabric of Israeli democracy. Israeli political scientist Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin warns that, “an attempt [to establish] a political and legal foundation for permanent annexation” has played a substantial role in the increasing illiberalism of Israeli society and political life, including increasing attacks on core democratic institutions like the judiciary.