Comparing Middle East Political Systems

Comparing Middle East Political/Legal Systems
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The Israeli Declaration of Independence recognized religious freedom for all people, and the Supreme Court has also reaffirmed these principles over time. The principles of freedom, justice as well as peace are hence recognized in the Israeli legal system. On the contrary, the Muslim countries of the Middle East have tended to use Islamic law as the basis for their legal systems, with Islamic principles common in daily life, and with restrictions imposed on many of the religious minorities broadly restricting the freedom of worship, association and assembly. This paper will differentiate between Israeli law and Jewish law and highlight on differences between the treatment of freedom of religion in Israel with Egypt Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
Israeli law is related to the legal system that governs the nation state of Israel, while the Jewish law is that which governs the Jewish people regardless of their residences and location. Israeli law has developed independently from Jewish law, which has been in existence for centuries before the nation state of Israel. Typically, the Jewish legal system (Halacha) is divided into laws on religious observance and other matters. As such, the Holy Bible is one of the texts that have inspired Jewish law as have been the Talmud, Mishna as well as Codes, Commentaries and Responsa which represent the responses of legal scholars handed down from the 7th century till today. However, the challenge for Israel is that recognition of religious freedom does not translate to practice, since the political system typically favors coalition governments with smaller religious parties.
Under the Jewish law, the seven precepts are universally applicable, but these prohibitions are typically not enforced against non Jews, who are allowed to govern their own affairs. At the same time, there is no obligation to observe all the precepts among Jews, but the community based rules may not be applied to all since there is no single legal authority that can claim to enforce the rules. Religious observance characterizes Jewish law and there are consequences for worshiping idols “He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him”. Even though both Jewish and Islamic law provide guidelines on actions that are forbidden, the Islamic law also highlights on actions that are permitted, recommended and others that are discouraged.
The Sunni and Shia branches of Islam are the two main branches of Islam, and the interpretation of Islamic law (Sharia) differs depending on the sect. The Israeli Legal system guarantees equality for all groups guaranteeing the freedom of worship. As such, these provisions seek to ensure there is no discrimination on the basis of religion, despite the Jewish being the majority. In any case, the Israeli law recognizes Christian communities, the Bahia and Druze, who have their legal doctrines which they can apply. However, the Iranian regimes restrict freedom of expression based on the tenets of Shia Islam. Even thoug...