Yamin Israel & The УNationalistФ Camp
It has been said that the Yamin Israel Party (hereafter УYaminФ) contributed to the УsplittingФ of the nationalist camp in the 1996 elections.аа This is an utterly distorted view of IsraelТs political reality.а
Before showing why, it should be noted that the Yamin of 1996 and the Yamin of 2000 have little more in common than the name.а Yamin has been thoroughly transformed.а The transformation began when Eleonora Shifrin inherited the party after the 1996 elections and adopted the Jewish Constitution drafted by the Foundation for Constitutional Democracy, an American-Israeli research organization.а
YaminТs maturing process continued when the members of its executive committee attended Jewish oriented seminars sponsored by the Foundation for Constitutional Democracy in Jerusalem.а The seminars examined the constitutions of various countries, diverse parliamentary electoral laws, the flaws of IsraelТs political system, small parties, democracy, IsraelТs demographic problem, Jewish law, the issue of separation of religion and state, and related topics.
From these seminars the Yamin people derived a multi-layered understanding of the causes of IsraelТs disintegration on the one hand, and how to prevent the countryТs collapse on the other.
Now, a brief review of IsraelТs cardinal problems reveals that Yamin Israel could not possibly split the nationalist camp if only because there is no authentic nationalist party in the Knesset.а For example, no Knesset party deals honestly and courageously with the demographic issue, which threatens to transform Israel into an Arab-Islamic autocracy.а Arab Knesset members brazenly violate the law prohibiting any party that negates the Jewish character of the state.а Indeed, Arab MKs such as Azmi Bishara and Hashem Mahameed brazenly commit acts of sedition.а Yet no so-called nationalist party takes any action to remove their parliamentary immunity, let alone make this a public issue of the first magnitude (which could then derail the anti-nationalist Oslovian death process).а
Moreover, how can one be a serious nationalist and not oppose the 1.5% parliamentary electoral threshold, which fragments the nation, the Knesset, and the cabinet, and makes it virtually impossible for the Government to pursue coherent and resolute national policies?аа And yet, paradoxical as it may Yamin Israel calls for a 4% threshold, contrary to its apparent party interests.
Furthermore, what is a УnationalistФ if he or she condones a parliamentary system that enables Knesset Members (MKs) to ignore with impunity the abiding convictions of IsraelТs Jewish population?а It cannot be said too often that in Israel, unlike 75 democracies, the entire country constitutes a single district and the citizens vote not for an individual candidate but for a fixed, party-ranked list of candidates (most of whose names, by the way, are unknown to the average voter).аа As a consequence, MKs are accountable not to the people but to the party leaders who head, or are positioned to head, the cabinet ministries.
In contrast, Yamin Israel advocates multi-district or constituency elections using either the Preferential Vote system operative in Ireland and Australia, or the Personalized PR system employed in Germany, Sweden, and Denmark.а Either system would render Jewish national convictions and values more effective in the Knesset and, ultimately, in the Government.а In fact, constituency or regional elections will render MKs more independent and enable them to oppose Government policies they deem detrimental to the national interest.а (More often than not, geographic constituencies will compel candidates to think not only in terms of special interests, but in terms of the national interest.)
By the way, it is because of the KnessetТs impotence that IsraelТs Supreme Court has become an anti-nationalist or post-Zionist УCourtocracy.Фа Yet one looks in vain for any serious attempt on the part of the so-called УnationalistФ camp to curb the courtТs power by making its membership dependent on parliament Ц the case of all democracies.а
Finally, unlike Yamin Israel, none of the so-called nationalist parties advocate an authentic Jewish Constitution, one designed to promote national unity, national pride, and national purpose.
Thus, far from УsplittingФ the nationalist camp, Yamin Israel has adopted a set of policies for forging a nationalist camp!