This thorny question is often the root cause of extreme disagreement among Jews. Some of the most stringently religious claim Israel does not require a state, that Israel is a spiritual ideal defined in the psyche of its people. On the other hand those that rely on Israel’s State law and its response to International Law focus on the physical definition of national borders as determined by the prevailing consensus. The diversity presents the dilemma of a nation seeking a sovereign guarantee for their Jewish, ‘democratic’ ideal.
Under the two-state-solution, once the shared dream of Israel’s President Shimon Peres, Israel would have been divided into a Jewish and a non-Jewish state under the Palestinian Authority. However, the internationally sponsored idea has met resistance on both sides. In the midst of the furor, politics, legal opposition and terror, Israel procrastinates as it grapples with the threat a single state poses to its Jewish ideal.
No matter Israel’s future demographic trend, the risk to Jewish sovereignty in a single democratic state, from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean Sea, that incorporates all resident aliens, is too much for the Israeli electorate to bear. Alternatively, giving up security control to an enemy occupying land controlled, but not presently annexed, by Israel is daunting and impractical. The untenable advance of terrorism and rhetoric is often more alarming to Israel's Jewish electorate than the prospect of losing its Jewish majority in a future single state. The status quo is ineffective and a drain on individual prosperity.
Who can guarantee Jewish sovereignty? This question is increasingly serious in the minds of Israel's Jewish constituents. Existing mechanisms within the states legal construct are limited, but one fully satisfies the essential guarantee. Compare the United Kingdom with its King and Church of England, Italy with its Vatican, Iran with its Ayatollah, Saudi Arabia with its King and Mecca. Although some of the western states identify as religious, their constitutions separate church and state. Similarly, Israel has an inherent solution to its Jewish sovereignty problem, a model that makes sense, is already partially active and works.
Whether secular or religious, the vast majority of Israel’s Jewish electorate periodically participate in religious services of a local synagogue. Elected, municipally appointed City Rabbis are nominated by these community synagogues through a legally established Electoral Committee to represent their communal religious interests. One of those interests is Jewish sovereignty guaranteed by national rabbinical representation in a future Senate or Upper House of Israel’s Knesset (parliament). That may be a confronting prospect to many, but the national benefits for all, Jewish or non-Jewish citizens and alien-residents, are presently misunderstood.
Many popular elected City Rabbi’s[1] are self-motivated to empower community voices through their electoral framework and elevate it to Israel's national political stage. Rabbinical representation in a bicameral government of a single Jewish state is complex, but societal demands are rising through grass roots participation. Town hall meetings, community activity, representations organized by appointed City Rabbis and leaders will be hallmarks that signify the success of this future movement. Education and awareness that a Sovereign Rabbinical body, elected to the Upper House of Israel's parliament, can truly be representative and liberating will underly the ground swell of this Jewish indigenous ideal.
Shifting government priority from its present emphasis on energy and technology to also develop labor intensive domestic industry around cultural principles is essential to satisfy Israel’s growing constituent underclass. Political parties that prioritize development of sustainable industries capable of employing a significant portion of the unemployed and non-participating[2] workforce will benefit. Israel’s indigenous cultural prerogative, including for the optimal growth of tourism, is a principle that will serve the prosperity of Jewish and non-Jewish populations of a single sovereign Jewish state. The development of skills[3] directed to economic benefits associated with Jewish sovereignty will ultimately deliver better financial distribution to the broader population.
Jewish objectors may struggle to digest such a prospect; a democratic-theocracy that stacks its constitutional Jewish sovereign deck in favor of its Jewish population by its Jewish religious leaders sitting in the upper house of its government. Jewish sovereignty looms large, but the embrace of non-conventional models, inspired by the ancient past, would also, for the first time in 2000 years, establish an authoritative religious body licensed to modify its religious laws.
Sources:
[2] http://www.financeisrael.mof.gov.il/FinanceIsrael/Docs/En/The_Israeli_Economy.pdf
[3] http://skills.oecd.org/supplyskills/documents/21abclabourforceparticipationbygenderandage2010.html