“Democracy per se is a slogan”: Jeffrey Sachs about Israel

In the recently held national elections in Israel, touted as the only democracy in the Middle East, neither the main parties nor a vast chunk of the country’s population discussed an issue on which the nation founded in 1948 had come under sharp attack from many international agencies, including the UN Human Rights Council’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry and many more human rights scholars: genocide against Palestinians.

Many of these organisations have been investigating the events since October 7, 2023. The Commission of Inquiry said that Israeli authorities and security forces committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

With no clear winner emerging from Israel’s October 27 election and Benjamin Netanyahu’s political bloc falling short of a parliamentary majority, intense parleys are on to stitch together a 61-seat coalition in the 120-member Knesset. The negotiations centre on Netanyahu and his main rival -- former military chief Gadi Eisenkot. Meanwhile, Arab-led parties have won a historic 19 seats.

Talking to Open, noted American economist and public intellectual Professor Jeffrey Sachs said, “Democracy per se is a slogan. So-called democracies throughout history have been able to enslave, subjugate, expel, and even exterminate minorities. Many Israelis are rampantly racist.”

He adds, “Still, I am hoping for sanity and a measure of decency.”

In his analysis published in Common Dreams after the results came out, Sachs wrote, “Israel’s leaders should also understand what is at stake beyond Israel’s borders. Israel’s racism and murderous campaign in Gaza and the West Bank have profoundly alienated people all over the world. A Pew Research Center survey of 36 countries this spring found that a median of 67 percent of respondents view Israel unfavorably, including 60 percent of Americans. In Pew’s surveys this year, Israel was viewed more negatively than any other country it asked about. More Americans now sympathise with the Palestinians than with the Israelis. The alienation extends to Jews all over the world. If the politicians double down on their racism now, they will confirm the world’s harshest judgments of Israel.”

In this essay, he expressed his views on what he expects from the opposition leaders. “Nothing beyond decency. The government that ousts Netanyahu is the one that accepts the votes of Arab citizens. Israel’s president has asked the party leaders to come to his consultations with an open mind. The majority to remove Netanyahu exists, provided that the leaders drop their racism,” he wrote.

Sachs, former director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, was an adviser to three UN secretaries-general. An alumnus of Harvard University, where he earned his BA, MA, and PhD, Sachs is the author of several bestselling books and a widely sought-after commentator on geopolitics. Of Jewish origin, Sachs has long been a vocal critic of the Israel Lobby, which he believes has manipulated American politicians for far too long. He has repeatedly maintained that Israel should not dictate American foreign policy -- America should.