April 5, 2007
Israeli Electoral Reform Dream: What a Headache
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Israelis have plenty of power to vote politicians out of office, and they use it all the time. Not only politicians, but whole political parties get elected to the Knesset on a wave of voter enthusiasm, then disappear in a wave of voter disenchantment.Two such parties, incidentally, were the Democratic Movement for Change (Dash) of the late 1970s and its recent incarnation, Shinui. Both stood for honesty, responsibility and competency in government and look what happened to them.
I'm sorry to use a cliché, but I can't get around it: In a democracy, people get the government they deserve. That's the truth underlying every electoral system Israel ever has or ever will adopt, and try as we might, that truth can't be reformed.
Larry Derfner is the Tel Aviv correspondent for The Jewish Journal.
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