Does Israel have the right to exist? That's a stupid question, and the answer to stupid questions is yes and no. Does the United States have the right to exist? yes and no. There is a version of the United States that does not have the right to exist. That version existed until the Reconstruction amendments to the constitution were enacted between 1865 and 1870. That version legalized slaveryand the forceable expropriation of land from native Americans, and denied women the right to vote. That version of the United States did not have the right to exist. Recognizing this,our citizens eventually amended the Constitution to abolish slavery and give women the right to vote. (Less was done to right the wrongs done to Native Americans.)
In the case of Israel, there is no consitution to amend. There is, however, the Basic Law enacted in 2018 saying that "the State of Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish People" and that the right to exercise national self-determination in Israel is "unique to the Jewish People."
Such a state does not have the right to exist because it denies equal rights to people who are not Jewish. This is an ethnic state and ethnic states do not have the right to exist.
There is a version of Israel that would have the right to exist. It would enact a constitution guaranteeing equal rights to all citizens regardless of ethnicity; granting citizenship to all non-Jews residing in Israel, and and inviting all Palestinians residing in Israel before1948 and their descendents to return to Israel and become citizens on equal terms with Jews. That is the only version of Israel that has a right to exist. The version of Israel that exists under the Basic Law has no right to exist. The version of the United States that existed before the Civil War had no right to exist. The version of France that existed before the 1789 revolution had no right to exist. The version of Germany that existed between 1933 and 1945 has no right to exist. The version of Russia that existed under Catherine the Great, Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Putin then had and now has no right to exist.
So no. This Israel does not have the right to exist. But there is a version of Israel that would.
