Israel’s Maddening Electoral System Deserves Credit for Holding the Country Together
Forcing the tribes to compromise.
June 28, 2019
Israel’s Maddening Electoral System Deserves Credit for Holding the Country Together
Forcing the tribes to compromise.
After winning a fiercely contested election in the spring, Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition, leading the Knesset to call for new elections in September. Some Israelis blamed the prime minister, while others blamed the leaders of the small right-wing parties that refused to make the compromises necessary to sit to make a coalition possible. But many pointed their fingers at the political system itself, which gives—in this case—the leader of a party that won only five Knesset seats the ability to bring about the second election in a single year. Haviv Rettig Gur, despite sharing in the frustration, defends this much-maligned system:
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Login or SubscribeJune 28, 2019
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