RIVKA BAR-YOSEF
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Labor don't propose such a change because each one hopes to form a
government with the help of the small parties.
Another proposal - also invented by a professor of law - is for a
presidential system. America has a presidential system, so the populists argue
that the prime minister should be chosen by the people, by direct vote. They
assume that then he would have the power to appoint his cabinet and thus
create an efficient government. But nowhere in the world is a prime minister
elected directly by the people. Israelis know that President Bush or
Eisenhower were elected by the people ofAmerica, and they forget about
the American electoral process. In this situation the real danger is that a
charismatic, populist leader might capture the majority vote and become a
sort ofuncontrolled prime minister with
his
own cabinet. Personally, I cannot
understand how some ofour very intelligent Knesset members can push the
notion ofdirect election - knowing the Israeli situation. In such a situation, I
wouldn't want him to have the power to appoint his own cabinet and
government. Because these are very real problems it's not very clear what
can be done. I think that the most rational thing is for people such as
academics and politicians to try to work out some kind of system that would
fit the Israeli situation and would have a good chance ofbeing accepted. I am
not at all sure how this will happen, but I think that a change in the system
will
come.
Because of the political stalemate all sorts ofpolitical matters cannot be
settled, either by the parties or the Knesset. So for the first time since Israel's
existence, the Supreme Court is taking over. In a way, it has taken over
what used to be the functions of the Knesset. For example, it rules on
whether certain party manipulations are or are not legal.
It
also is expected
to decide whether a member of the Knesset elected on a party ballot may
take his mandate to another party. In America, a Democrat can vote any
way he wants because he was elected personally. His responsibility or
accountability is to his electors. In Israel, representatives are not elected
personally but represent a party. In several instances, an individual changed
parties and took his mandate along - thereby changing the balance ofpower.
The question is whether legally a mandate is the member's private property
or not. Peres, for example, had formed a sixty-one person government
when, at the last minute, two members of one party changed over to the
Likud.
(Ibis
happened on the morning he went
to
the Knesset to present
his
government.) Thus he did not have a majority. The question (apart from the
moral issue) is a purely democratic one about the electoral system. If this
situation were changed, our political arena would change as well. Another
Israeli debate questions the so-called politicization of the Supreme Court.
Opinions vary. Some say the Supreme Court should not intervene, and
others believe it must act as a sort of guardian,
if
not of the constitution then
ofthe proper functioning ofthe political institutions.
