Israeli Politics in a Nutshell, Part I

The Israeli political landscape is going to change significantly in the next several months as a result of early elections scheduled for May 17, 1999. These elections were called due to the Knesset essentially finding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet unable to lead Israel during these trying times.

At the moment, there are 13 political parties within the 120 member Knesset. These parties range in ideological positions from the far right (hawkish and supportive of a Great Israel that includes the West Bank and Golan Heights) to the far left (more peace oriented and supportive of a land for peace arrangement that has been the centerpiece of many UN and American sponsored peace initiatives). There are also a number of one issue parties that claim to represent the causes of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community as well as parties representing Soviet immigrants.

There are at least 3 new parties in the offing, based on defections from existing parties including several big names in Israeli politics. One is likely to be focused around Dan Meridor, who jumped ship to form an as yet unnamed centrist party. Another is Ze'ev Benjamin Begin, son of late prime minister Menachem Begin, who left Likud to launch a new party that he bills as a purer version of Likud on the right.

Contrary to a recent Washington Post article (Israel's Campaign Underway; Parties Multiply for May 17 Election, Jan 5, 1999; page A5), the reason behind the surge in political parties and increased fragmentation of the Israeli Knesset hasn't been because of the changes to the electoral process that saw the first direct election of a Prime Minister, but rather the fundamental process by which parties gain seats in the Knesset. The current system is based on a percentages system that enables a political party with as little as 1.5% of the electoral votes in nationwide elections to gain 1 seat in the Knesset. This means that small and single interest parties can easily develop around personalities rather than larger party agendas and this affects the makeup of the coalition government as no single party has ever held enough seats in the Knesset to run the government without assistance of other parties.

This situation means that the elections in May will likely see the creation of additional parties to whom the elected Prime Minister would have to court and bring into their Cabinet, further reducing the ability of the government to function efficiently and without being directed by a minority viewpoint.. Israeli politics has developed with this percentage system as a means of providing the most Israelis with the opportunity of participating in government as possible but the downside is that single issue politics can derail larger goals that speak to long term interests.

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic