This week, on January 25, marks the 74th anniversary of the first Knesset Israeli election campaign and yet, the Israeli public does not stop and cherish thanks to the first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, for living in a country where democratic elections are held.
The day of the first Knesset election is an unspecified day in the Israeli public and media space. There are many reasons why. I argue that the first factor is the misconception that democracy has always been an integral part of Israel, since the days of the state under way and even from the beginning of the Zionist Yishuv period. This is not the case. The founding of Israeli democracy was not really a trivial matter, certainly not in the face of the historical context in which Israel was founded as a state. The establishment of Israeli democracy is in fact part of Ben-Gurion's broad and clear political conception.
The historical context in which Israel was established proves that Israeli democracy is the result of a conscious choice of Ben-Gurion. The days of the establishment of the state were the days of the Cold War after World War II, when half of the world was part of the "Soviet bloc" that was not characterized by a developed democratic regime. In addition, the immigrants to Israel were Holocaust survivors from Eastern European countries and immigrants from Arab countries, who did not come from nations with a long-standing democratic tradition. In addition to these, initiatives arose for various and bizarre regimes that tried to promote ultra-Orthodox or devout communists.
Ben-Gurion came to this reality armed with a cohesive, broad political concept and with deep thinking on the subject.
Ben-Gurion understood with his developed senses that in order to allow a people accustomed to living as a religious minority to take responsibility for running a state and become an overnight people with sovereignty in their country, a profound change of consciousness is needed.
His desire was to establish in the country a parliamentary democracy based on a society with a common civic consciousness, which he would later call "statehood" - which was introduced into the Hebrew language from the concept of "of the kingdom" in Russian.
Ben-Gurion has created a new political formula: the choice of democracy is the choice of statehood and the choice of statehood is the choice of democracy.
The idea behind the formula - from the moment we live as a people in its sovereign state, we must adopt a common civic consciousness that is expressed in subordination to one center of authority, the importance of participation in the public-political space and the formulation of a common value platform and arena defining political debate.
This perception, which is the basis on which Israeli society stands, is challenged by various people from all corners of the political spectrum.
It is challenged because the common value platform, which was a precondition for the establishment of a state, was not perceived as a necessary condition for the existence of the state today.
This is one of the most difficult problems Israel has faced in recent years.
The Ben-Gurion statehood was valid and right for its time and without it we would not be able to live today in our own sovereign state, certainly not in a prosperous and prosperous state.
This perception had painful national and personal prices paid.
This concept creates a real space for all cultures that together constitute the mosaic of Israeli society.
But is it right to give up the state idea?
Give up the possibility of a common value base?
no and no.
Without such a platform, not only has the choice of democracy been non-trivial in the past, it may also cease to be trivial in the present and in the future.
Let us insist on democracy and statehood and begin to mark and celebrate the first Knesset election day.
The author serves as the director of Beit Ben-Gurion in Tel Aviv
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