Foundation for Constitutional Democracy

 

July 29, 1999

 

Position Paper VI.а УA Jewish Defense of Presidential GovernmentФ

 

By Prof.а Paul Eidelberg

 

As pointed out in Position Paper I:а УWhy Israel Needs A Presidential Form of GovernmentФ (June 30, 1999), coalition cabinet government, with its multiplicity of partiesЧeach with its own agendaЧis inherently incapable of formulating and executing coherent, comprehensive, and resolute national policies.а Coalition cabinet government entails a plural as opposed to a unitary Executive.а Only the latter can provide the leadership required for national unity, a precondition of IsraelТs survival in the Middle East.

 

If any religious Knesset Member objects to presidential government, it would be wise to have one of his religious colleagues justify presidential government on the basis of Jewish law.аа Thus, in a recent book, An Introduction to Jewish Civil Law, Arnold Cohen writes:а УThe Torah encourages a single central authority and discourages collective leadership.Фа Collective leadershipЧor what may appear to be leadershipЧis precisely the consequence of coalition cabinet government, in which the Prime Minister must yield to a multiplicity of party leaders each with his own personal ambitions and partisan interests.

 

Cohen continues:а УWhen Moshe Е prepared to consult with the elders of his generation, to seek their opinions and follow their advice, the Almighty countermanded this, insisting that Yehoshua alone should lead the people into the Land of Israel.аа СThere can be but one leader for a [people] and not two.ТФа In the Jewish system, the King is the undisputed Head of State, entitled to ultimate honor and obedience. Such is RashiТs commentary to Deuteronomy 31:7, quoting Sanhedrin 8.

 

Lacking in IsraelТs cabinet is collegial solidarity.а Various cabinet members in the past have been known to consort with IsraelТs enemies.а Also, cabinet ministers will sometimes conspire with each other to topple the Government, as happened in the Уstinking maneuverФ of 1990.а In his Memoirs, the late Yitzhak Rabin reveals how his cabinet colleague, Shimon Peres, leaked information to the press to advance his own personal ambitions.а The truth is that coalition cabinet government magnifies the vices of men.а Notice how Knesset Members shamelessly lust for cabinet posts, as if there were no honor in being a member of IsraelТs Legislature.

 

Unfortunately, the Knesset has become little more than the rubber stamp of the cabinet.а If this were not enough to demean the Knesset, the Supreme Court frequently usurps power which by right and by law should be exercised by the legislative branch of government.а But this only means that the dignity and power of the Knesset should be restored by some form of regional elections.а Indeed, a more independent Legislature is necessary to check and balance the Executive under a presidential form of government.а The Torah itself embodies a system of checks and balances, for the King was restrained both by the Kohane Gadol and the Sanhedrin.

 

аIt behooves Israel Beiteinu to publicize these points so as to rally public support for its presidential form of constitution vis-a-vis those proposed by other parties.