Israel recently held its parliamentary (Knesset) elections on January 22nd. Since then Netanyahu has stated that he would change the electoral system, a demand made by Yisrael Beitanu when forming the Likkud-Beitanu coalition.
I do agree that there are negatives of Israel having a Proportional Representation electoral system mainly because three weeks after the election there is still no agreed government coalition. What more, when a coalition does form, as shown in the past, each party has an ideology and thus a condition. Each condition is likely to conflict with another's. This in turn causes an unstable coalition with the Prime Minister being forced to choose the most valuable party in his eyes.
Another problem which occurs with Israel's electoral system as a whole is that although proportional, there is limited representation. This is because since Israel became independent in 1948 there has always been 120 Knesset members. Although this number was picked for historical reasons, what needs to be recognised is the growth of population since 1948. According to the Central Bureau of Statics, the population of Israel grew from 806,000 in 1948 to 7.2 million at the end of 2007. Although these are not up to date figures, there is an undeniable extraordinary rise in population growth. With these numbers, one expects for Parliamentary members to rise in accordance, however, this is not the case. Each Knesset Member now represents a whole lot more people than earlier Knesset Members. This in turn creates a further divide between politicians and ordinary civilians. It also destroys the principle of accountability. Accountability is further reduced by the fact that each Knesset Member does not represent a certain region in Israel. Instead there is no incentive to help certain areas and the main focus then remains on security issues and the Israel-Palestine conflict rather than domestic issues.
I will come up with a solution for the lack of accountability and representation towards the end of this article. Until then, I will discuss why the foundations of Proportional Representation cannot be removed in Israel.
Israel is home to a pluralist community. Whether it is religious and non religious Jews, Arab-Israelis, Druze or Bedouins, each group has to be represented. This is a reason why there is a need for Proportional Representation in the Knesset. Each sector of society is entitled to a voice, and because society is so pluralistic a one-party system, resulting from First Past the Post, is inadequate. Each group in society must be part of the decision making process otherwise the Knesset will become highly undemocratic.
The Israeli electoral system also has a low threshold of 2% allowing minorities to gain seats in the Knesset and thus be representative. Although in the UK, there is a higher threshold mainly to keep minority parties out, such as the BNP, which in my opinion is a good thing, this is an irresponsible move in terms of Israel. Israeli-Arabs already believe they are under represented, and heightening the threshold will confirm their claims. In order for Israel to stay a democratic society they must continue to represent all sectors of society even if that means keeping the threshold at an extreme low compared to other countries.
It is apparent that Proportional Representation is a necessity in Israeli politics but what is to be done by the ever expanding population and the static Knesset? One idea would be to increase the number of seats in the Knesset, but that results into a greater struggle to form a coalition. It is hard enough to achieve a coalition of 61 mandates or higher; to have a larger target will increase the time it takes to form a coalition, increase aggravation, and create further instability.
Although this does not change the number of seats in the Knesset, what I do propose is the Scottish electoral system of AMS. This is a mixture of First Past the Post and Proportional Representation. It also includes regional representatives plus additional members. If used in Israel, this would make Knesset members more accountable and representative as they would have to report to their specific region. There would however be Knesset members who do not represent a region who will be able to prevent pork-barrelling, and take into account national interests.
There is a saying 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it' but the Israeli electoral system has a mutated gene and is showing symptoms of health problems. The whole electoral body does not need to be fixed, but with a little key-hole surgery, the Israeli electoral system will become much more healthier.
