Last week was the war in Gaza. The election campaign begins in earnest this week. Voting is on February 10th..
This note is for all political mavens dying to know what Israelis do when we are not fighting, preparing to fight, arguing about the most recent fighting, or that on the horizon.
Israelis vote for party lists in one nationwide district. The parties getting at least two percent of the total vote send a proportional number of members to the 120 seat Knesset. No party has ever won a national majority. The leading party gets a chance to put together a coalition that can garner majority support in the Knesset.
Each successful parties sends the appropriate number of individuals on its list to the Knesset, based upon their ranking on the list. The parties differ on how they choose and rank the individuals. The major parties have primaries, open to individuals who pay dues of perhaps $7 per month. Other parties employ committees set up by party leaders. Religious parties rely on distinguished rabbis to select their candidates.
Here are the choices being faced, in the order of relevance.
First, the parties that won seats in the previous election, and seem likely to win seats in the next Knesset.
Secular parties:
Likud: right of center, in opposition with only 12 seats in the current Knesset, but leading in the polls
Kadima (forward): a centrist party, leading the current coalition with 29 members, but trailing Likud in the polls
Labor: left-of-center, the dominant party from the pre-state period until 1977, a major contender and occasional leader of governing coalitions since then, currently with 18 members of Knesset and the second party in the coalition, but ranking only third or fourth in the polls
Israel our Home: right of center party growing beyond its roots among Russian-speakers; it has campaigned to exchange of territory and population between Israel and a Palestinian entity, currently with 11 members of Knesset, with polls showing it increasing in number, to the point where it may become the second party in a coalition led by Likud
Meretz: left of center, emphasizing social justice and accommodation with Israel's neighbors, currently with 5 members of Knesset
Likud, Kadima, and Labor are at the focus of the campaign, with Israel our Home nipping around their heels. Meretz will get a few seats, but probably remain marginal. The religious and Arab parties will appeal to their traditional and disciplined voters, and return to the Knesset within a seat or two of what has been typical.
Likud's campaign relies on Benyamin Netanyahu's rhetorical skills in Hebrew and English, and his claims of being responsible and successful in managing the country's defense and its economy. Against Kadima, the Likud campaign asserts that Tzipi Livni "is not ready," and has proved to be vacillating and indecisive.
Kadima's campaign focuses on the bluster and unreliability of Netanyahu, as well as Livni's lack of taint by scandal.
Ehud Barak and his success in the recent Gaza operation is at the center of Labor's campaign. Troubling for Labor is a party that includes enthusiastic socialists and a concern for making peace, along with others impressed with the power of the market. An emphasis on compromise for the sake of peace may have special difficulty in this campaign, when the party leader takes primary responsibility for the efficient destruction in Gaza.
Religious parties:
Sephardi Guardians of the Torah (known by its acronym, SHAS): Sephardi ultra-Orthodox, currently with 12 members of Knesset
Torah Judaism: Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox, currently with 3 Knesset members
Jewish Home: a descendant of the National Religious Party, representing Religious Zionists or modern Orthodox, with a heavy vote in the Jewish settlements in the West Bank; its predecessor party won 7 seats in the last election, but was troubled by splits and the establishment of competing parties
Largely Arab parties. The electoral commission decided that two of these parties (Balad and United Arab List) would not be allowed to run on account of campaigns threatening the continued existence of Israel. The Supreme Court accepted their appeals and overturned the decisions of the electoral commission. Personalities and family connections appear to be more important than nuances in platforms to affect the relative success of these parties.
National Democratic Covenant (Known by its acronym, Balad): the party of Azmi Beshara currently outside of Israel evading arrest on suspicion of treason. With 3 Knesset members, Balad aspires that Israel will become the state of all its citizens, withdraw from all the territories, and accept the establishment of a Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem
Hadash (new): descendant of the Communist party, aspires to a Palestinian state alongside Israel, and to full equality of Jewish and Arab citizens; it currently has 3 Knesset members (two Arabs and one Jew)
United Arab List: aspires to a solution of the economic and social problems in Israel, closing social gaps, equality between all citizens, and a just peace between Israel and its neighbors
What follows is a motley list of those likely to be also-rans. In a system of free air time for all parties on radio and television, with allocations reflecting the proportion of votes in the most recent election, these parties will receive a minimum of air time.
In this list are several parties competing for the same voters: those concerned with the environment, social welfare, vaguely defined moral values, equality of Jews and Arabs, a just peace, or rejection of Palestinian demands. Duplication adds to the problems of any one to gather enough votes to enter the Knesset. There might be a chance of a Green (environmental) party winning Knesset seats. However, the competition between two parties that emphasize the environment, plus others that mention the environment among other goals, works against that possibility.
In this list are several parties created and led by distinguished individuals long active in politics, including a prominent academic, two retired generals, and a singer of some fame. One wonders why the seemingly well informed, with secure personal status, risk embarrassment in what seem bound to be losing causes.
Our Land of Israel: a clone of the late Rabbi Kahane's Kach, opposing political agreements with Arabs, with aging pop singer Ariyeh Zilber among its candidates
Responsibility: refurbished party established around a retired general who has run before, advocating a renewed emphasis on values and legality
Light: aspires to an enlightened democracy based on human rights as articulated by the United Nations
International Covenant: would fan a new humane spirit to engender a lasting peace between people, and between them and the earth.
National Unity: to realize the right of the Jewish people to all their homeland
Workers Party: advocates a "sane alternative to capitalism"
Israelis: established by a professor of political science to reform the electoral system so that residents of separate districts can choose their representatives instead of selecting party lists in a national poll
Green Party: environmental quality essential to national renewal
Idea of Equality: to solve the inequalities imposed on men in cases of divorce and child support
Green and Social Standing: combines environmental quality, education and other social issues
Power to Influence: representing the physically handicapped
Strong Israel: established by a former leading Knesset member of Labor, to provide an alternative emphasizing moral values and a fight against crime that will strengthen Israel against its enemies.
Renewed Israel: to represent Russian speaking immigrants and others concerned with a social democratic alternative
United Fighters for Society: concerned with social rights of divorced men and women, children, and the handicapped
To Move: improve the economy, society, security, health, environment, and limit traffic accidents
Sabra: promotes the needs of young voters concerned with values, equality of rights and obligations, education, culture, welfare, employment.
Green Leaf: to legalize the medical, personal, and industrial use of cannabis, as well as rights of privacy, single-sex marriage, and environmental quality
Pensioners: concerned with the aged, and a surprise winner of 7 seats in the last election. Its Knesset members came under suspicion for financial irregularities and sexual harassment. The party split, and its remnant is currently polling too low to win any Knesset seats
None of these 17 also-running has made enough of a dent in the polls to be listed in their results. It takes some hunting through the internet to find a complete list of the parties registered for the election. For some of the parties, it is a further task to decipher what they have written about themselves iin order to to uncover what they are offering.
Openness is part of democracy, which in Israel means 30 or so parties competing in elections. Another part of democracy is the right to free expression. Free expression includes the right to mount a campaign that most people will ignore.
I welcome comments sent to my e-mail address below.
Ira Sharkansky (Emeritus)
Dept of Political Science
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
msira@mscc.huji.ac.il
Tel: +972-2-532-2725
Fax: +972-2-582-9144