Israel is a democracy the same way as Canada, the United States, or any Western European country is a democracy. It was established as such on May 14, 1948, when its Declaration of Independence was signed, extending “complete equality of social and political rights to all of its inhabitants, irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantting freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture.”
It has a parliament – the Knesset – for which elections are run on the basis of proportional representation. At any one time, there are 120 members of the Knesset who represent the population of Israel. On November 1, 2022, elections were held to elect the members of the 25th Knesset. As of November 2022, the Knesset is made up of 12 political factions, two of which are Arab factions (the United Arab List and Hadash/Ta’al) with 10 Arab members of the Knesset between them.
Israel has been a liberal democracy throughout its entire existence. Like any country, Israel may have its flaws, and may have faltered along the way while it has sought to maintain its democratic values, but there is no question that it is a fully functioning democracy.
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