Recall that Labor-Meretz won only 56 Knesset seats in the 1992 elections, whereas the Likud and its potential coalition partners won 59 seats. What made a Labor-led government possible—and this was unprecedented in Israel’s history—was the five seats won by the two Arabs parties. Those five Arab seats gave Labor a “blocking majority” and induced Shas to join Labor and Meretz and thus make the resulting government kosher. Oslo followed.
It should also be emphasized that Oslo was foisted on Israel without Knesset or public debate. Once Oslo, that is, the Israel-PLO Agreement, was approved by the cabinet, it became the law of the land, in accordance with Basic Law: The Government.
Few people are aware of the fact that the Knesset does not actually ratify agreements between the government and with foreign states or entities. It can do nothing more than vote no-confidence—which it has never done vis-a-vis any Labor- or Likud-led government. In the United States, treaties must be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the Senate, which imposes significant restraints on the Executive branch of government. There is no comparable system of checks and balances in Israel, a fact which enables an Israeli prime minister to behave like a dictator.
The Knesset is little more than a cipher, since the ministers of the cabinet are party leaders on whom MKs depend for their position and perks. This would not be the case if MKs represented individual constituencies—the practice of virtually all democracies, many of which are smaller than Israel in population and size.
If you want to understand how Ariel Sharon could become Labor’s surrogate prime minister, investigate not only his dubious character but also the dubious—nay, grotesque—character of Israel’s system of government.
No party has more clearly exposed the defects of Israel’s governing institutions than Yamin Israel, and none has offered a more sensible and comprehensive remedy. No party has shown how Israel can be made more Jewish by means of democratic principles as well as more democratic by means of Jewish principles.
For further information, contact Yamin Israel, or visit the Foundation for Constitutional Democracy.
A Vital Message from Yamin Israel
{Excuse me if, and to the degree I'm 'preaching to the choir' in posting this; - some basic things need to be often repeated IMHO - Tiburon}
Critics of Oslo rightly denounce its primary architect, Shimon Peres. But Mr. Peres could never have perpetrated that disaster were it not for Israel’s parliamentary electoral system.
At first glance, Oslo was the result of electoral treachery. Attentive to public opinion polls during the 1992 Knesset elections, the Labor Party promised the nation it would not recognize or negotiate with the PLO—the sine qua non of Oslo. However, Labor could readily violate that pledge because Members of the Knesset (MKs), and therefore its cabinet ministers, are not individually elected by and accountable to the voters in regional or constituency elections.
The same treachery was perpetrated by the Shas Party, which had vowed it would not join a Labor-Meretz government. And Shas would not have joined that anti-religious coalition had it not been for a little understood electoral fact.
Recall that Labor-Meretz won only 56 Knesset seats in the 1992 elections, whereas the Likud and its potential coalition partners won 59 seats. What made a Labor-led government possible—and this was unprecedented in Israel’s history—was the five seats won by the two Arabs parties. Those five Arab seats gave Labor a “blocking majority” and induced Shas to join Labor and Meretz and thus make the resulting government kosher. Oslo followed.
It should also be emphasized that Oslo was foisted on Israel without Knesset or public debate. Once Oslo, that is, the Israel-PLO Agreement, was approved by the cabinet, it became the law of the land, in accordance with Basic Law: The Government.
Few people are aware of the fact that the Knesset does not actually ratify agreements between the government and with foreign states or entities. It can do nothing more than vote no-confidence—which it has never done vis-a-vis any Labor- or Likud-led government. In the United States, treaties must be ratified by a two-thirds vote of the Senate, which imposes significant restraints on the Executive branch of government. There is no comparable system of checks and balances in Israel, a fact which enables an Israeli prime minister to behave like a dictator.
The Knesset is little more than a cipher, since the ministers of the cabinet are party leaders on whom MKs depend for their position and perks. This would not be the case if MKs represented individual constituencies—the practice of virtually all democracies, many of which are smaller than Israel in population and size.
If you want to understand how Ariel Sharon could become Labor’s surrogate prime minister, investigate not only his dubious character but also the dubious—nay, grotesque—character of Israel’s system of government.
No party has more clearly exposed the defects of Israel’s governing institutions than Yamin Israel, and none has offered a more sensible and comprehensive remedy. No party has shown how Israel can be made more Jewish by means of democratic principles as well as more democratic by means of Jewish principles.
For further information, contact Yamin Israel, or visit the Foundation for Constitutional Democracy.
Posted by Tiburon at November 16, 2004 09:07 PM