Israel needs a more democratic Political System

Israel needs a more democratic Political System


by Dr. E. Metzler-Moziani, Judge (ret.)


When I was a young law student at Heidelberg University from 1957 to 1959, I studied Constitutional Law and Political Science at the feet of the eminent scholar Carl Joachim Friedrich, Harvard Professor of Government, expert on Federalism, and on Johannes Althusius (Politica Methodice Digesta, Herborn, Nassau, 1605), and one of the fathers of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany.

I fully concur with Professor Eidelberg's criticism of Israel's political system: Israel must have a Constitution modelled after the Constitution of the United States of America, with checks and balances, judicial review of the legislation of the Knesset, with qualified majorities of two thirds or three fourths for constitutional amendments, and for other important legislation of outstanding significance, such as the Gaza disengagement. Most of all, Israel's voting laws must be reformed so as to guarantee the direct accountability of the members of parliament to their voters constituency, rather than party lists. However, the MKs, and party bosses, who cling to their seats, and depend on them for their political careers and livelihood, cannot be expected to cut off the branch on which they are sitting, so to speak. Hence the only solution is a Glorious Revolution, hopefully unbloody, to bring about a more democratic political system in Israel with a truly democratic Constitution.
Judea for Jews! -- No Arab Trojan-Horse State in Israel's heartland!
-- Ban Arabs from Israel, as long as Arabia and Jordan ban Jews! --

Posted by at November 18, 2004 04:07 AM

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Comments

1. Joseph Alexander Norland said:

There are two problems with this assessment:

First, there are growing forces in North America, esp. in Canada, against the current voting system, and for the proportional system you now find in Israel. The arguments put forward by the "reformists" are not easily dismissed.

Second, Judge Bork, in his latest book on the matter, cast serious doubts on the US checks and balances, explaining that the system has opened the door for "Activist Judges" who subvert the will of the electorate. I have quoted from Bork's book extensively in IsraPundit articles.

So copying the North American systems of government may turn out to be less than half a solution.

Posted by: Joseph Alexander Norland on November 18, 2004 09:18 AM

2. BobW [TypeKey Profile Page] said:

I am a strong supporter of Prof Eidelberg's idea of district elections and a constitution as a source document. In practical terms, this will not occur in Israel by Israeli bipartisan efforts.

Regardless, the model is not the US. The US is actually governed by powerful cartels. America's 18th century Constitution has been in abeyance for decades.

Singapore MIGHT serve as a model for Israel. This,too, must be tempered to the view that the Arab list will be governing Israel under current projections.

Kol tuv,
BobW

Posted by: BobW [TypeKey Profile Page] on November 18, 2004 09:58 AM

3. Tamar said:

Our entire "Judicial system" (such as it is...) can be classified as "activist". We have a 98% conviction rate in criminal cases, with innocent lives ruined by primitive and imcompetent judges.

At a conference held last year at Tel Aviv University, former justice of the Supreme Court of Israel, Dalia Dorner decried the "system" that has produced judges who openly state that "there is no need for trials, or defence lawyers", "I can tell a defendant is guilty by looking at his face" ("Are the Innocent Convicted" seminar)

Head of TAU law faculty Kenneth Mann (Former head of the Public Defender's office in Tel Aviv) defended the "system" by claiming "If the defendants were innocent, they wouldn't have been arrested"!

In our country, the mere act of writing this comment could bring down the wrath of our criminal injustice system.

Posted by: Tamar on November 18, 2004 12:02 PM

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