Israeli Elections Are Not Democratic Because They Operate Within a Genocidal, Jewish-Supremacist State
Source: Raz Segal. "Elections in a Genocidal State Are Not Democratic." November 5, 2026. jacobin.com
The Gist
The author argues that Israeli elections can't be called democratic because the state holding them is committing genocide and treating Palestinians as inferior or as enemies. He says nearly all the major Jewish parties, including the opposition, share this outlook, so swapping Netanyahu for someone else changes little. He also warns that the way Palestinian citizens are being portrayed could be a prelude to even worse violence.
Conclusion
Israeli elections, and Israeli "democracy" generally, are a charade rather than genuine democracy, because they take place in a state that is committing genocide and operates according to a Jewish supremacist logic. The elections should be read as a warning that worse violence against all Palestinians under Israeli rule, including Palestinian citizens of Israel, may be coming.
Premises
- Israel is perpetrating genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and most of its Jewish citizens support or cheer it on.
- Israel subjects millions of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza to military occupation without basic rights for nearly six decades, while settling more than 750,000 Jews in violation of international law.
- Palestinian citizens of Israel are structurally second-class: the 2018 Jewish Nation-State Law, the repression of the 2021 protests, post-October 2023 arrests, and a March 2025 poll in which 56 percent of Israeli Jews supported expelling all Israeli Palestinians.
- Across the political spectrum, including the supposed opposition (Lapid, Bennett, Lieberman, Eisenkot), the major Jewish parties share the Jewish supremacist and anti-Palestinian logic, as shown by Lapid excluding Palestinian parties from coalitions, Bennett's and Lieberman's statements, and Eisenkot's Dahiya Doctrine. The 93-of-120 seat majority therefore supports Jewish supremacy and genocide.
- Israeli society and leaders use exclusionary and genocidal discourse. Netanyahu accused Palestinian parties of "stealing the elections," and opposition parties still aim for a Zionist government without Palestinian parties, so Palestinian citizens are treated as a disloyal enemy within.
- Historical genocides (Armenian, Rwandan) show that treating a minority as a disloyal internal enemy can precede mass violence against them.
Assumptions
- A state committing genocide and systematically denying rights to a large population under its control cannot be considered democratic, no matter how it holds elections.
- Electoral competition among parties that share a supremacist consensus offers no meaningful choice, so a change of government would not change the underlying logic.
- Statements by politicians and media figures, and poll results, are representative of the Jewish Israeli majority's views and intentions.
- The characterization of Israel's conduct in Gaza as genocide is correct and accepted by the audience.
- Historical analogies to Armenia and Rwanda are apt predictors of what may happen to Palestinian citizens of Israel.
- Parties' past statements and their refusal to include Palestinian parties in coalitions reveal their true governing logic, and are better evidence than their stated platforms.