Palestinian subjects living under occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip cannot participate in elections
Roughly 5.5 million Palestinian subjects live in the territories occupied by Israel in 1967: about 3.5 million in the West Bank (including roughly 350,000 in East Jerusalem) and some 2 million in the Gaza Strip. None of them are allowed to vote or run for Knesset, and they have no representation in the political institutions that dictate their lives.

This reality persists despite the fact that Israel has been the sole power controlling and managing these millions of lives for more than 55 years. Israel controls the land, sea and air spaces and has retained key governance aspects despite geopolitical changes over the years. Israel cites these changes to support its argument that residents of the Occupied Territories can influence their future through other political systems – the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip. Yet this claim is detached from reality.

These are the facts:

In the Gaza Strip, after removing its settlements and withdrawing its military in 2005, Israel declared its rule over the area at an end and its duties towards Gaza residents terminated, barring minimal obligations aimed at preventing a serious humanitarian crisis. Hamas’ internal rule in the Gaza Strip may bolster this claim and help Israel ignore the 2 million people living there. Yet the fact is that Israel still holds almost all powers pertaining to Gaza residents and determines what their daily lives look like, in no small part due to its near-complete control over the movement of people and goods in and out of the Gaza Strip.

In the West Bank, Israel supposedly transferred some powers to the Palestinian Authority. It has since used this move to perpetuate an illusion that political power in the West Bank is divided, with Israel and the Palestinian Authority each acting independently and as it sees fit in the areas it controls. Israel works to uphold the perception that everyone in the West Bank has a political system in which they can participate: the settlers vote and run for Knesset and the Palestinians for the Palestinian Authority. However, the Palestinian Authority can only govern very limited aspects of life in Palestinian urban centers, and usually requires Israel’s permission even for that, while Israel retains control over all major aspects of life – including the use of force, incarceration, the justice system, planning and building, freedom of movement (to and from Israel, Jordan and Gaza, as well as within the West Bank), resources, the population registry and many more. Regardless of whether elections for the Palestinian Authority are held – there have been none in many years – the true control remains in Israeli hands.

In East Jerusalem, upon annexing the area, Israel gave Palestinians living there at the time permanent residency status. This status, which does not confer a right to run or vote for Knesset, is usually given to immigrants entering the country. In the case of East Jerusalem, the opposite is true: it was Israel that entered the area. Residents of East Jerusalem can, theoretically, become citizens and participate in general elections, but the process is lengthy and complex, and Israel deliberately puts bureaucratic obstacles in their way.

Palestinian citizens limited in exercising the right to vote and run for office
The roughly 1.7 million Palestinians with Israeli citizenship status can, like Jewish citizens, take part in the general elections. They can vote for their candidates, start their own parties or join existing ones. However, their political participation has been cast as illegitimate since the very inception of the state, along with attempts to restrict or deny them true political representation.

more

https://www.btselem.org/publications/202210_not_a_vibrant_democracy_this_is_apar...


Israel is far from a democracy or beacon.

How Israel helped prop up Hamas for decades

https://www.analystnews.org/posts/how-israel-helped-prop-up-hamas-for-decades

That makes Israel's Zionists as bad as Hamas.

Setting the bar low.



Israel ranks highest in electoral democracy (0.715) and is the only country in the region classified as a "flawed democracy" by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in 2023.
Tunisia is widely recognized as the most democratic country in the Arab world, having transitioned to a republic after the 2011 Arab Spring.  However, it has regressed in recent years and is now classified as a "hybrid regime" by the EIU.
Iraq and Mauritania also rank highly in the V-Dem indices, with strong participatory and deliberative democracy scores.

Ai_Took_Our_Jobs wrote on Mar 13^th, 2026 at 2:51pm:


Yes, the Arab Muslim countries do set the bar very low. They also try to slaughter Jews at every opportunity. Despite the need to maintain a constant war footing, Israel still manages to grant all its citizens, including the local Arab Muslim population, more rights and freedoms, and more say in the governance of the country, than any other middle eastern or north african country.

Have you realised yet that it is Hamas, not Israel, denying democracy and fundamental human rights to the people of Gaza?

freediver wrote on Mar 13^th, 2026 at 4:05pm:



As before, Israel kept Hamas in power, so holds a share of the responsibility.

https://www.analystnews.org/posts/how-israel-helped-prop-up-hamas-for-decades

It's the zionist's plan ... to have boogiemen, so to slaughter civilians and thieve their land

Melanias purse wrote on Mar 13^th, 2026 at 6:17pm:




Hi Karnal,
are you anti-semetic?