http://jewishquarterly.org/2009/05/reform-or-die/ A magazine of contemporary writing, politics & culture Fri, 11 May 2012 19:37:44 +0100 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 http://jewishquarterly.org/2009/05/reform-or-die/comment-page-1/#comment-53 Zev Sat, 27 Mar 2010 07:16:24 +0000 http://heroic-media.com/jq/?p=435#comment-53 This article is very relevant to the political system in Israel and the way that it has been corruptly manipulated in more ways then one. Despite the plethora of political parties in Israel there seems to be a serious lack of check and balances (as well as personal accountability) in the current Israeli system. One of the basic changes that Israel needs regardless if they should go to single member district system or not (such as the German system)is that they should require a two third majority vote in the Knesset to be able to ratify any kind of peace treaty so as to represent the people and to provide a needed review of the terms of the said treaty. For example notice the way the Oslo Accords were implemented with out first holding Knesset hearings and a thorough review of the provisions in the accords. Instead it they negotiated in secret and then signed by the late Prime Minister Rabin and Yasir Arafat as a fait accompli and only then was the Knesset given the option to vote on it. The Oslo Accords had proven to be a disaster and to this day the state of Israel had dearly paid the price in both blood and money for that irresponsible treaty that the Arabs never honored or took seriously and yet Israel is still being asked to continue making dangerous concession to the PA while they never had lived to the Oslo accords which they had signed and was foisted on the Israeli public. As for reforming the political system in Israel, I would strongly recommend reading the book "Jewish Statesmanship Lest Israel Fall" by Professor Paul Eidelberg where he outlines what needs to be done to make Israel into an effective and accountable Jewish Democracy. Zev Post C This article is very relevant to the political system in Israel and the way that it has been corruptly manipulated in more ways then one. Despite the plethora of political parties in Israel there seems to be a serious lack of check and balances (as well as personal accountability) in the current Israeli system. One of the basic changes that Israel needs regardless if they should go to single member district system or not (such as the German system)is that they should require a two third majority vote in the Knesset to be able to ratify any kind of peace treaty so as to represent the people and to provide a needed review of the terms of the said treaty. For example notice the way the Oslo Accords were implemented with out first holding Knesset hearings and a thorough review of the provisions in the accords. Instead it they negotiated in secret and then signed by the late Prime Minister Rabin and Yasir Arafat as a fait accompli and only then was the Knesset given the option to vote on it. The Oslo Accords had proven to be a disaster and to this day the state of Israel had dearly paid the price in both blood and money for that irresponsible treaty that the Arabs never honored or took seriously and yet Israel is still being asked to continue making dangerous concession to the PA while they never had lived to the Oslo accords which they had signed and was foisted on the Israeli public.
As for reforming the political system in Israel, I would strongly recommend reading the book “Jewish Statesmanship Lest Israel Fall” by Professor Paul Eidelberg where he outlines what needs to be done to make Israel into an effective and accountable Jewish Democracy.
Zev Post C

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