Voices for Reform Raised in Israel

In Tel Aviv tonight, tens of thousands of Israelis,, repelled by increasingly flagrant examples of corrupt political practices, plan to rally in support of demands for electoral reform. So insistent have calls for reform become that the Likud Party has now offered to join with its Labor Party rival in a transition government whose main purpose would be to legislate electoral change. That’s unlikely to happen, given Labor leader Shimon Peres’ belief that come next Wednesday he can present to the Knesset a government that doesn’t depend on Likud’s participation. But that coalition, joining a number of small parties to Labor, is expected to reflect precisely the kind of vote-buying that reform advocates are clamoring against.

It’s a systemic problem, with Israel’s curious electoral system all but requiring deal-making that invites exorbitant payoffs to tiny parties. Israelis don’t vote for individual candidates in national elections but for party lists, with Knesset seats apportioned according to the votes each list gets. Under this system, winning a mere 1% of all votes cast secures a seat. That’s why no party has ever won a majority in a national election, and it’s why 15 parties sit in the Knesset today.

One effect of this system is to give ultra-Orthodox religious parties, which hold only 15% of the Knesset’s seats, power far greater than their popular support warrants. To woo these parties, both Labor and Likud regularly and shamelessly deliver costly favors. Just before he resigned as finance minister last month, Peres handed over $3.5 million to the religious institutions belonging to one small ultra-Orthodox faction. Just after their coalition collapsed, Labor and Likud joined to adopt a budget amendment giving $110 million to religious institutions, three times last year’s appropriations. And in one of the more bizarre episodes of vote-buying, Likud has offered to post a $2.5-million bond to underwrite its promise of a cabinet seat to one wavering politician.

The bribery, the favoritism and, most of all, the distortions and paralysis of policy that flow from this deeply flawed system have fueled mounting outrage. Uriel Reichman, a law professor who is a leader of the reform campaign, warns of a complete breakdown in public trust.

What reforms are most needed? Raising the vote minimum to win a parliamentary seat from 1% to 5% would eliminate many fringe and nuisance parties. Direct election of at least half the legislators would invigorate the system and ensure greater attention to constituents’ needs. Direct election of the prime minister would dilute the power of entrenched party leaders.

Will it happen? Calls for reform have been heard--and ignored--often enough before. This time, though, it may just be that the wave of public revulsion churned up by what has been going on might finally prove enough to begin forcing change. If so, there’s no question that Israel’s democracy will be far stronger for it.