Confederation of Friends of Israel in Scotland (COFIS)
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  • Support COFIS
  • HOME
  • About Us
  • Events
  • Scottish FOI Groups
    • Aberdeen Friends of Israel
    • Ayrshire Friends of Israel
    • Dumfries & Galloway Friends of Israel
    • Dundee Friends of Israel
    • Edinburgh Friends of Israel
    • Glasgow Friends of Israel
    • Highland Friends of Israel
    • Lanarkshire Friends of Israel
    • North East Scotland Friends of Israel
  • Resources
    • Apartheid state?
    • BDS - what is it? >
      • Supreme Court judgement on BDS
    • Coronavirus in Israel
    • Declaration of Independence
    • Democracy in Israel
    • Israeli technology
    • LGBT rights in Israel
    • Multicultural Israel
    • Religious Basis for Zionism
    • San Remo 1920-2020
    • Settlements
    • Videos
  • Partners
    • Cross Ethnic Community
    • Israel Britain Alliance
    • StandWithUs UK
    • We Believe in Israel
  • CONTACT US
  • Links
    • UK-Israel Advocacy Groups >
      • BICOM (Britain Israel Communications & Research Centre)
      • BITUD (Britain Israel Trade Union Dialogue)
      • British Muslims for Israel
      • Building Bridges With Israel (Scottish Parliament Cross Party Group)
      • Christian Friends of Israel
      • Conservative Friends of Israel
      • Israel Advocacy Movement
      • Israel Britain Alliance
      • Labour Friends of Israel
      • Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel
      • North West Friends of Israel
      • Northern Ireland Friends of Israel
      • Scottish Friends of Israel
      • Sikhs for Israel
      • Stand With Us UK
      • Sussex Friends of Israel
      • We Believe in Israel
      • Zionist Federation of UK & Ireland
    • Challenging Antisemitism >
      • Campaign Against Antisemitism
      • Gathering the Voices
      • Holocaust Educational Trust
      • International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance
      • Muslims Against Anti-Semitism
      • Yad Vashem (World Holocaust Remembrance Center)
    • International Israel Advocacy Groups >
      • Africans For Peace
      • Friends of Israel Initiative
      • Israel Action Network
      • International Fellowship of Christians and Jews
      • Jewish National Fund
      • Sikhs for Israel
      • World Zionist Organization
    • Visit Israel >
      • Abraham Tours
      • Egged Tours
      • El Al Israel Airlines
      • GoIsrael
      • Tourist Israel
      • Yad Vashem (World Holocaust Remembrance Center)
    • Scottish FOI Groups >
      • Aberdeen Friends of Israel
      • Dumfries & Galloway Friends of Israel
      • Dundee Friends of Israel
      • Glasgow Friends of Israel
      • Highland Friends of Israel
      • Lanarkshire Friends of Israel
  • Support COFIS

Democracy in Israel

Uniquely in the Middle East, Israel is a democracy. Every citizen of Israel has the right to vote and general elections are decided by proportional representation. This ensures that governments are perpetually coalitions made up of a range of parties, and that the 120 seats of the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) are divided evenly between parties who exceed the 3.25% threshold according to the number of votes cast. 

Between 1948 and 1979, general elections usually produced left-wing coalitions, with the Labor Party (Israeli English always uses American spellings) dominant. In the last 40 years, Likud has been the major political party and the coalitions have tended to be right-wing. Most Israeli Arabs vote for Arab parties: however, a significant minority support the mainstream parties, including Likud. Indeed, a survey following the April 2019 election found that more than 27% living in exclusively Arab towns supported non-sectarian parties. This number is likely to be greater in the many mixed communities in Israel where it is impossible to distinguish between Arab and Jewish voters. 

Surveys consistently show that Israeli Arabs support the creation of a Palestinian state, but they wouldn't want to live there. They see faults in the Israeli state (just as Israeli Jews do!) and want to maintain their Arab identity, but they also recognise the benefits of living as Israelis and have no wish to lose these.

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