View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Digital Commons @ UM Law Maryland Law Review Volume 77 | Issue 1 Article 11 A Jewish and (Declining) Democratic State? Constitutional Retrogression in Israel Nadiv Mordechay Yaniv Roznai Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/mlr Part of the Constitutional Law Commons, First Amendment Commons, and the Law and Politics Commons Recommended Citation 77 MD. L. Rev. 244 (2017) This Symposium is brought to you for free and open access by the Academic Journals at DigitalCommons@UM Carey Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Maryland Law Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@UM Carey Law. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. A JEWISH AND (DECLINING) DEMOCRATIC STATE? CONSTITUTIONAL RETROGRESSION IN ISRAEL NADIV MORDECHAY & YANIV ROZNAI INTRODUCTION “President Trump is right. I built a wall along Israel’s southern border. It stopped all illegal immigration. Great success. Great idea.”1 The rhetoric is identical. Anyone who follows President Donald Trump on Twitter can easily identify the populist style.2 Sentences are short; the message is unequivocal. Authority is eminent and the target audience is clear. The electoral harvest is immediate even if it often leads to direct dip- lomatic crises. The political strategy is the same—targeting the lowest com- monality of the part of the electorate that had, until recently, been regarded as excluded from decision-making focal points and institutions. The means to achieve the political goals are similar, as well: distrust of the law, disre- garding professionals, contempt for bureaucracy and existing institutions, and a desire to “roll back the state.” A central, common feature is the disre- gard of, and even offensive approach towards the media.