In a month Israel will have a general election. It will be unusual in more than one way. The sraeli Knesset (parliament) of 120 members is elected by proportional representation. there are no true individual candidates. We vote for a party (of which there are about 18 running) and based on the percentage of votes the party receives they get that percentage of the seats in the Knesset. Each party offers a list of candidates and the ones elected are the top names on the list. If you vote for the Labor Party and they get 10% of the total vote they will get 12 seats in the Knesset. Your marginal vote actually elects the person who in in 12th place on the Labor Party List. Most parties determine most of the list in a primary election where party members vote for their favorites.So you aren’t actually voting for the party leader. But after the election each party submits to the President of the country the name of the party list leader that they would support for being prime minister. The president, based on the size of the various parties and the recommendations given him asks a party leader to try to form a government. With so many parties, no single party is likely to have an absolute majority. That means coalition bargaining where smaller parties can promise support in return for some favor like an appointment for their party leader as a cabinet minister.
By the way, in order to keep the scene from becoming totally chaotic, a small party must get 3.5% of the vote (enough for 4 seats) or they are excluded altogether. We have in this eletion at least 2 Arab parties, 3 religious parties and a few others that are not likely to get very many seats, but they will be able to use their presence to make a coalition that will support particular legislation that their party wants, even when a majority of the overall representatives would not be behind such laws. One example that come to mind is the case of exemptions from military service for yeshiva students. In theory, Israel has universal military service for both men and women. In practice, it doesn’t. Other smaller parties support specific economic or social legislation, like free market Marijuana.
Another really strange case specific to this election is that the leader of one of the largest parties, Benjamin Netanyahu, is facing an indictment on charges of corruption and bribery. It does not prevent him from running at the top of his party list. Other candidates have been accused of blatant racism and disloyalty to the state, but the election commissioners have chosen to allow them to run, also.
Add to this political mess a strong dose of external militant threats (rockets, balloon and kite bombs, vehicular terrorism, shootings, and stabbings supported by Hamas in Gaza, Hizbullah in Lebanon, and Iran in Syria). Most of the terrorism doesn’t affect most Israelis directly. Even so, the whole thing has a lot of complicated aspects. I’ve been told that there is an ancient Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times”. Life here often approaches this. And despite it all, I would not want to live anywhere else in the world.
Wetherhorn 