Israel may be many things but it’s not a theocracy

When Daniel Teegan argues Israel is not a democratic state, but a theocratic one, (Irish Examiner, Oct 17) it is clear he does not understand what a theocracy is.

If he did, he would know it is the last term one could apply to the determinedly secular state. The Oxford Dictionary defines a theocracy as a state where a deity is officially recognised as a civil ruler, and whose official policy is governed by bureaucrats who are divinely guided, Israel may be many things, but it is not a theocracy. Indeed, to the chagrin of Israel’s ultra-orthodox Jews (Haredi) who regard the government as atheistic, there’s not a deity to be found anywhere.

Dr Kevin McCarthy,