Part four of a series explaining Israel’s political system before Israelis go to the polls.
By Stephen M. Flatow
Ask an American Jew whether a particular Israeli politician is on the left or the right and you’ll usually get an immediate answer.
Ask what those labels actually mean in Israel and the answer becomes much less certain.
That is because Israeli politics developed differently from American politics.
In the United States, political debates often revolve around taxes, government spending, regulation, social issues and the proper role of government. While those issues exist in Israel, they do not always define political identity.
Historically, Israel’s political divide centered on questions of security, territory and relations with the Palestinians and neighboring Arab states.
How much risk should Israel accept for peace?
Should Israel withdraw from territory in exchange for security guarantees?
Can Palestinian leaders be trusted to fulfill their commitments?
Those questions often determined whether a party was considered left, center or right.
As a result, an Israeli voter may hold views that seem contradictory to American observers.
A politician may support a strong welfare state and extensive government involvement in the economy while also advocating a hard line on security issues.
Another may support free-market reforms while favoring territorial compromise.
Neither fits neatly into an American political category.
Religion creates another complication.
In the United States, religious voters are often associated with political conservatism. In Israel, religious parties focus on a wide range of issues, including education, military service, conversion, marriage, Shabbat observance and the relationship between religion and state.
Some religious parties are hawkish on security matters. Others are willing to support governments of the left or the right depending on the issues most important to their constituents.
Recent years have introduced still another dividing line: the role of Israel’s courts and legal institutions.
Debates over judicial reform, the powers of the Supreme Court and the authority of unelected officials have created new political alliances and tensions that do not fit comfortably within traditional labels.
This is one reason American Jews often become frustrated when discussing Israeli politics.
We assume that “left” and “right” mean roughly the same thing in Jerusalem as they do in Washington.
They do not.
A voter who considers himself politically liberal in America may find himself agreeing with Israeli parties on some issues and disagreeing sharply on others.
Likewise, an American conservative may discover that his Israeli counterparts support policies that would seem unusual in the United States.
None of this means the labels are useless.
They provide a shorthand for understanding political trends.
But they should be viewed as approximations rather than precise descriptions.
As Israel approaches another election, Americans would be wise to spend less time asking whether a party is left-wing or right-wing and more time asking what that party actually believes.
That approach will lead to fewer misunderstandings and a clearer understanding of the choices facing Israeli voters.
Next: Why do small parties seem to have so much influence—and why do Israeli governments fall so often?
Stephen M. Flatow is an attorney, author and longtime writer on Israel and Jewish affairs who divides his time between Jerusalem and New Jersey.