Dagan: I will hold gov’t to electoral reform promises
By JPOST.COM STAFF
05/16/2012 02:00
“Perhaps I am being naive, but I think that politicians want to do good for the state of Israel,” former Mossad chief says.
Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan Photo: Marc Israel Sellem
Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan said on Tuesday morning that he would hold the
ruling coalition to its promise to change the electoral system and replace the
Tal Law.
Speaking to Israel Radio, he stated that “we have the promise of
[Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu] and his deputy [Vice Premier Shaul Mofaz] to
change the electoral system, and we also enjoy the support of the majority of
Knesset. Let’s give them the credit that they can and will make the
change.”
Dagan, chairman of the Yesh Sikui (There is a Chance) movement,
has presented a bill his movement drafted that includes calls to raise the
electoral threshold from 2 percent to 3%, and to reduce the number of ministers
to 16.
“Perhaps I am being naive, but I think that politicians want to do
good for the state of Israel,” he said. “If they are not doing so, it is my job
as a citizen to lobby them.”
Turning to the Tal Law, which allowed men
studying full-time in yeshiva to postpone their military service indefinitely,
and which the High Court of Justice struck down in February, Dagan said he
didn’t believe in compromises on the IDF draft.
“We have a law that says
every 18-year-old has to join the army,” he said.
Asked if authorities
should take haredim (the ultra-Orthodox), who mostly opt for yeshiva over army
service, to the drafting office by force, Dagan responded in the affirmative.