Israel, "the only democracy in the Middle East" . . . but what kind of democracy ?

American supporters of Israel like to point out that it is the only democracy in the Middle East.   Further, they proudly point to the fact that 1.6 Arabs are citizens of Israel and have the right to vote.

But how sincere is that commitment to democracy when the Prime Minister publicly expresses great alarm on election day because these Arab citizens are actually "going to the polls in droves to vote?"    As long as their votes were divided among four different parties, none of which had any political power, and leaving the people apathetic about voting, it was fine to brag about giving them the right to vote.   

But in this election, having united into one party and representing 20% of the electorate, the Arabs became a serious threat to Netanyahu's winning.    Hence, his alarmist call for far right religious voters and nationalists to abandon their small parties and vote for Likud.    Which they did, giving him the win -- especially after he promised that there would never be a Palestinian state while he is Prime Minister.

And what kind of a democracy would hold another 4 million Palestinians in a virtual apartheid state in Gaza and the West Bank?  Not being Israeli citizens, they have no right to vote in Israel's elections.  But -- in the words of Tony Karon, in Al Jazeera America:

“For decades, their fate has been determined much more in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv than it has in Ramallah or Gaza. Their freedom, livelihoods, health, education, lives and deaths are determined in a place in which they have no status or rights. .

"Wrote Levy, 'Israel in 2015 considers itself a democracy while ruling over the lives of 4 million people who lack the right to vote.   That’s a condition reminiscent of the colonial era or apartheid South Africa, where millions were ruled by a state that denied them the democratic rights of citizenship.'"

So, yes, Israel is a democracy in the sense that the people elect their own government, which is then responsible to the people.   But who are "the people?"   Does it include the 20% of the population of Israel who are Arabs but also citizens of Israel and entitled to vote?

And where is the boundary between Israel and the non-existent Palestinian state?   Are the Jewish settlers who live in the West Bank Israeli citizens, with all those rights, and do they vote?   What of the Arab Palestinians who also live there . . . and claim the land as their own  based on the 1967 boundaries?

Ralph