Israel's election system must be reformed - opinion
The public should not be held hostage by the political rivalry and infighting of representatives it elected
By JPOST EDITORIALUpdated: DECEMBER 20, 2020 21:39People sort ballot boxes as part of preparations for the upcoming Israeli election, during a briefing for members of the media at the Israel Central Election Committee Logistics Center in Shoham, Israel March 6, 2019(photo credit: AMMAR AWAD/REUTERS)
Something very unhealthy is happening in Israel and it has nothing to do with COVID-19. Unless the Israeli parliament manages to overcome the infighting and political squabbles and pass a budget within two days – or unless it scrambles to quickly change the law regarding the budget – the Knesset will automatically be dispersed this week and the country will be propelled toward a fourth round of general elections within two years. This is not democracy, it is political chaos.Elections can be prevented if a budget is approved by midnight tomorrow (December 22), or if Likud and Blue and White pass legislation to delay the budget deadline but the Knesset could preempt that and pass the law to dissolve itself today and not wait for the budget deadline to expire.This absurd situation shows just how unruly the Israeli political system has become. There has been no 2020 budget and the country carried on, relying on the previous year’s budget, divided in monthly portions. This alone caused a great deal of hardship and made it difficult to plan ahead. The budget for next year, in the coronavirus era, is even more important and must not be subjected to such political games and maneuvers.Above all, the public should not be held hostage by the political rivalry and infighting of representatives it elected.There is no reason why passage of the budget should determine whether new elections are held and this built-in threat gives rise, even in an ordinary year, to last-minute dealmaking as all kinds of expensive concessions are made on the budget’s coat tails to satisfy various parties and to help MKs keep their jobs.This year, of course, is not a regular year.Even if a solution is found and the Knesset’s dispersal is avoided, it will not solve the long term and more severe problem because as things stand, the political system is unstable and the country seems doomed to go repeatedly to the ballot box only to end up with the same type of stalemate. This is because under the current system, it is not the leader of the party that gains the largest number of votes who automatically becomes prime minister, but the lawmaker who can convince the president that he or she has the ability to cobble together the most stable coalition – which usually means a collection of parties holding at least 61 seats in the 120-member Knesset.The financial cost of never-ending rounds of elections is huge – and there is a fear that in light of this perpetual political instability, the country could lose its high international credit rating. The cost to society is also enormous as elections are often highly divisive and they prevent progress in every sphere of life.Were the premiership to go automatically to the leader of the party with the largest number of votes, this would significantly reduce the power of smaller parties to play kingmaker. While they would still have a role, representing certain interests and sectors, it would be healthier to have two large parties. To a certain extent, this was the case in the years before 1996 when Likud and Labor were clear majority parties.Talk of electoral reform in Israel is not new. In the past, attempts have been made to raise the electoral threshold in the hope that the smaller parties would fall by the wayside and two main blocs would form. This is one of the reasons why the Arab parties – despite their vastly varying platforms – amalgamated as the Joint List.But one of the main problems is that the Knesset is unwilling, or unable, to cure its own political woes and adopt the necessary electoral reforms. Israel cannot afford to neglect the factors behind the political paralysis out of narrow, short-term self-interest.Healing the political system is no less necessary than dealing with the health and economic crisis that have been created in the wake of the corona pandemic. There is a lack of governability, a lack of stability and a lack of true representation and accountability.The chain of nonstop elections and political paralysis must stop.
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