What Did You Vote For?

March 11

There has been tremendous and continuing controversy over the candidacy of Avignor Lieberman. His party Israel Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) won 15 seats, the third most behind Likud (27) and Kadima (28), so Netanyahu, the Likud leader asked by the President to try to form a government, has invited him into a coalition. His primary plank called for a “loyalty oath” by all Israelis. This proposal put into action his strident calls for greater restrictions on Arab Israelis who, for the most part, have not acclimated themselves to the reality of living in a Jewish state. His views, however, do not flow from a religious foundation, so he differs with the religious Zionists in settlements in the territories or the ultra-Orthodox. Some voters, and perhaps many, were drawn to his views on decreasing the monopoly of the Orthodox Rabbinate on religious life in Israel, as well as rationalizing the way the government is elected and organized. A quote from today’s Haaretz shows the serious flaw in the Israeli electoral system:

“Lieberman has reportedly backed down from most of his demands for the civil marriage law, a solution to the conversion problem and changing the system of government.”

If your vote was for those planks, too bad. Many political scientists have called for efforts to create parties around some common overarching themes. For example, in the U.S., one could say that the Democrat party favors a larger government role and the Republican party greater state and individual autonomy. While Bush and the irresponsible Republican Congress put the lie to this (vast increases in entitlements and discretionary funding), these themes generally guide voting. As for electoral reform in Israel, if it is even on the table, it is under the tablecloth.