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Dear
Friends of Israel,
Since its creation 55 years ago, the State of Israel has flourished
as a country. In its short history, Israel has succeeded in
fulfilling the ancient Jewish dream of rebuilding our homeland.
The people of Israel have revived our language, competed as
a world leader in technology and science, and have made the
desert bloom. The Jewish people have created a strong Israel:
an Israel of truth and of talent; an Israel that conquers cyber-space
and outer space; an Israel that is able to cultivate a Judaism
that is as committed to the future as it is attached to the
past.
Despite our many accomplishments, there remain a number of obstacles
that the State of Israel still needs to surmount in order to
ensure its continuity as a strong democracy. Chief among these
hurdles is the restructuring of Israel’s inadequate political
system.
At its inception, Israel’s forefathers set out to write a constitution
and streamline its system of government. Due to the constant
threats that Israel has faced since its establishment, this
mission was never realized. The current parliamentary system
of government does not adequately provide the best service to
Israeli citizens. Furthermore, the current system of proportional
representation has meant that major parties never receive enough
of a mandate to govern effectively and this has usually resulted
in coalition governments prone to collapse. The enormity of
this problem has meant that only since 1969 has Israel been
able to hold national elections at the appointed date. Some
elections were held early due to the political deadlock and
government collapse. In 55 years, only two of Israel’s Prime
Ministers have served their full terms of office without having
to reconstruct their coalitions.
The time for change is long overdue. A political restructuring
is necessary for Israel to gradually embark on a new path. Governments
must have the ability and therefore the required stability to
govern. Policy makers need to be fully accountable to their
constituents. Israeli citizens must have the ability to fully
exercise their democratic rights. We must move towards the enactment
of a just constitution, and a more stable electoral system.
It is imperative that we strive to ensure that at the beginning
of the third millennium, so as to enable Israel to fulfill its
full potential as a Jewish and democratic state.
For these reasons, we strongly feel that the Citizens Empowerment
Center in Israel (CECI) recently founded by Itzhak Parviz Nazarian,
has the potential to begin to steer Israel out of its chronic
political malaise and open a new chapter of vitality for Israeli
democracy. The CECI was created for the explicit purpose of
researching ways for the creation of a more efficient, stable
form of government for the State of Israel for the people and
by the people.
It is our firm belief that the CECI will facilitate a new era
for Israeli society that is all inclusive and all encompassing.
Therefore, we are proud to extend our bipartisan support for
this remarkable initiative and we strongly urge you to consider
supporting it.
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