Speaking of elections, Israel held a prime ministerial election of sorts today when members of the ruling Kadima party held a primary for the party leadership. Current foreign minister Tzipi Livni appears to have won out over the slightly more hawkish former IDF chief of staff Shaul Mofaz. If she succeeds in forming a governing coalition — which is not certain, but overall likely — Israel will become one of the handful of countries to elect two different women to be head of government.
Noted historian Michael Oren makes the case that Israel, a parliamentary democracy with coalition governments and many parties, could benefit from being more like the United States:
Watching both the US and Israeli elections simultaneously, I cannot help thinking that in order to resolve the Palestinian problem, Israel must first reform its crippling political system. Needed is a prime minister who is popularly elected, who serves for a full four years without fear of weekly police probes, and who can choose cabinet members on the basis of their qualifications and not their political power. Israel needs a system much more similar to America’s.
There is a good argument to be made there. The fact that Israeli politicians spend so much energy trying to bring various factions together detracts from their ability to make key decisions that don’t appeal almost unanimously to the public. And yet some Americans think that there ought to be a third competitive party in this country. As Israeli voters know, however, coalition governments aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Sometimes, it can seem like all 40 registered parties suck. Israeli engagement in politics is dropping because of this phenomenon; the turnout for Kadima’s primary was unexpectedly low. Our system ain’t perfect, but it’s the best we can get right now, I believe.
–Dan Rozenson
