At a recent CfER meeting, the topic of Israel came up, and I observed that Israel was in such an extreme geopolitical situation that I doubt any system would do well in it.
The PR electoral system in Israel has done its job, more or less - it has facilitated fair representation among the different perspectives that live in Israel, including the Israeli Palestinians. That brings us to the realization that the problem isn't the electoral system, it's the people that live in Israel. Until the Israelis decide that they want to live in peace with all of their Arab neighbors, including the Palestinians, and want to construct a two-state solution that will allow peace, there's not much that an electoral system can do any better than what they have. This is a time for Israeli leadership to exert the qualities that other great leaders throughout history have sometimes exhibited when called upon to heal wounds and bring people together. I'm thinking of leaders like Nelson Mandela after the fall of South African apartheid, or Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses Grant after the civil war in the US, who consciously pushed policies of reconciliation rather than revenge. Unfortunately, at the current time the Israeli leadership is going in the opposite direction, of fanning the flames of extremism and hatred. This is a time when moral leadership and courage is greatly needed, and it is sorely lacking. Arguably it is the missing ingredient that has been lacking since the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin. It's a sad and tragic affair.
At a recent CfER meeting, the topic of Israel came up, and I observed that Israel was in such an extreme geopolitical situation that I doubt any system would do well in it.
The PR electoral system in Israel has done its job, more or less - it has facilitated fair representation among the different perspectives that live in Israel, including the Israeli Palestinians. That brings us to the realization that the problem isn't the electoral system, it's the people that live in Israel. Until the Israelis decide that they want to live in peace with all of their Arab neighbors, including the Palestinians, and want to construct a two-state solution that will allow peace, there's not much that an electoral system can do any better than what they have. This is a time for Israeli leadership to exert the qualities that other great leaders throughout history have sometimes exhibited when called upon to heal wounds and bring people together. I'm thinking of leaders like Nelson Mandela after the fall of South African apartheid, or Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses Grant after the civil war in the US, who consciously pushed policies of reconciliation rather than revenge. Unfortunately, at the current time the Israeli leadership is going in the opposite direction, of fanning the flames of extremism and hatred. This is a time when moral leadership and courage is greatly needed, and it is sorely lacking. Arguably it is the missing ingredient that has been lacking since the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin. It's a sad and tragic affair.