Two Crucial Issues
Although I have always been skeptical of Moshe Feiglin’s effort to take over the Likud Party—comparing it to a virgin trying to make a brothel chaste—nevertheless, I have always wished him success in his mission impossible. After all, he and his Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) movement are very much animated by the objectives of the Foundation for Constitutional Democracy, which I co-founded with Dr. Mark I. Rozen (z”l) some ten years ago. In fact, I believe
Manhigut Yehudit has been very much influenced by the ideas and proposals of the Foundation, indeed, that I may have written one of its first essays on Jewish Leadership.
Hence it may not be presumptuous on my part to urge Mr. Feiglin and Manhigut Yehudit to address, in public discourse, two crucial issues which underlie Israel’s present malaise. Indeed, I have elsewhere demonstrated, in simple mathematical terms, that the tragedy of Gush Katif can be traced to the failure of the so-called nationalist camp to address the two issues I am about to elaborate, which is why I have no confidence in the National Union and the National Religious Parties—parties which betrayed the nation by joining the Likud-led government of Ariel Sharon after the January 2003 election.
Issue Number One: The Foundation for Constitutional Democracy has emphasized and explained why Members of the Knesset (MKs) should be individually elected by, and accountable to, the voters in regional or constituency elections.
Unless I am mistaken, Moshe Feiglin and Manhigut Yehudit support this all-important reform, one that would strengthen the Knesset, promote institutional checks and balances, and prevent party leaders from manipulating the votes of MKs—as Prime Minister Sharon did on the Disengagement Implementation Law.
I therefore urge the leaders of Manhigut Yehudit to publicly announce that they will propose this crucial reform to the Likud Central Committee, otherwise, I fail to see why any serious and thoughtful person would want to join the Likud Party.
Issue Number Two: The Foundation for Constitutional Democracy has steadfastly opposed Israel’s system of Proportional Representation (which was also castigated by David Ben-Gurion). We have explained how this system fragments the nation, multiplies small parties, divides the Knesset as well as the cabinet, and how it would therefore prevent even a truly Jewish-oriented government from pursuing a coherent and resolute national strategy.
I therefore urge Mr. Feiglin and his Manhigut Yehudit faction to submit a resolution to the Likud Central Committee to abolish Proportional Representation. They have all the more reason to do so, since the Likud is a large party with a geographically distributed constituency. Surely any serious and thoughtful person would hesitate to join the Likud if it preserves this divisive parliamentary system of Proportional Representation. This system may be fitting for some nations, but not for a nation surrounded by hostile Arab states, namely Israel, whose survival very much depends on national unity.
It will be objected that the above proposals would disadvantage small parties, and so they would. But Israel has suffered the divisive and pernicious consequences of small parties for six decades. During this period the duration of Israeli governments average less than two years! Political instability, amateurish and opportunistic legislation, as well as inept government policies are the result.
However, to avoid misunderstanding, the Foundation for Constitutional Democracy is not dogmatically opposed to small parties. A small party may very well be the spearhead for the crucial reforms proposed above. Indeed, a small party with a truly nationalist program would not mind committing political suicide if it could hasten Regional Elections and eliminate Proportional Representation. No such party exists in the Knesset. Why not?
Because Proportional Representation, coupled to the absence of Regional Elections, is the cheap ticket to a job in the Knesset. Although almost 90 percent of the public knows that the Knesset is a haven for job-seekers, few people realize that Israel’s existing parliamentary electoral system conduces to this corrupt state of affairs.
Hence I urge Mr. Feiglin and Manhigut Yehudit, both in their spoken and written pronouncements, to expose the ruinous consequences of Israel’s parliamentary electoral system. Otherwise, only shallow or naïve people would heed their promptings to join the Likud Party.
