> The USA is not a theocracy, though.

Hence I brought it up, yes.

> Their constitution places Jewish identity on the same level as their democratic statute.

Many reputable democracies[1], including Germany, Australia, Norway or Switzerland, have a reference to god in their constitution; that doesn't make them theocracies. Even in the USA, presidents swear their oath on the bible!

> businesses in many cities being boycotted into respecting the Sabbath and other religious holidays

Try purchasing something on a Christian holiday in Germany. Did you know it's prohibited by law to play Life of Brian in public on Easter Sunday there?

> such as believing they were gifted the "land of Israel" by their god

That in turn isn't government directive, but a political opinion amongst several. Now I'm very much in opposition to a lot of what the Israeli government does, but they're really not what the term Theocracy means. That claim is just ridiculous.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_references_to_G...

> Many reputable democracies[1], including Germany, Australia, Norway or Switzerland, have a reference to god in their constitution

None of these say that their states are Christian and Democratic, nor do they have government decisions finding that this means anything at all. In Israel, by contrast, their highest court has found that, for example, a right to return for Palestinians would be unconstitutional - as it would undermine the Jewish character of the state of Israel. A reference to some god in their constitution would be a completely different thing.

> That in turn isn't government directive, but a political opinion amongst several.

This is an extreme downplaying of what I said. Several of the people in charge of the Israeli government have explicitly and exclusively, religious motivations in their decision making - that is a very clear sign of a form of theocracy.