Remodeling Israeli politics

How to solve our malaise and put the system together again

By Yehezkel Dror

Political systems are in trouble every­where, even in strong democracies such as the United State, Britain, France, Japan, and. Germany. The reason is clear: Political elites, structures and cultures are not meeting today's needs.

They are inherently unable to cope with radically new challenges from glob­alization, demographic shifts and geo­-strategic mutations, to growing income disparities, climatic changes and escalat­ing terrorism.

It's time to remodel politics worldwide, but especially in Israel, where the quali­ty of our politics is tied to the very exis­tence and core nature of our society. What is needed is pressure by informed elements in the public, including Jewish leaders outside Israel, to radically and effectively remodel the political system of Israel.

Israel's achievement in standing up to Arab hostility, developing the country and absorbing waves of immigrants is nothing short of heroic. Yet fundamental failures demonstrate that we have become incapable of addressing existential issues.

Israel's grand strategy toward the Pales­tinians has failed. We have no policy toward minorities. There's been a reckless neglect, until recently, of the demograph­ic issue, and a glaring absence of a social policy to reduce income disparities. There's been no progress in developing a knowledge and learning based society.

Most serious of all, we've failed to deepen the Jewish nature of Israel while main­taining its democratic character, and failed to anchor our relations with the Jewish people worldwide in a real partnership.

ISRAELI POLITICS as presently constituted is incapable of coping with these funda­mental issues. Weak coalitions depending on unstable parties have produced a rapid turnover in governments. Out of touch dogmatic stances have inhibited innova­tive policies appropriate to our changing circumstances. Most politicians lack an understanding of globalization, science, technology, economics, and the Jewish people; and of the rapid changes that have effected Israeli society.

Judicial activism has exerted undue influ­ence on the political system. Strategic staff, working out of the offices of elected officials, is conspicuously scarce. The very idea of a professional senior civil service is anathema to most politicians. Corruption is rampant. And, as other critics have noted, Israeli polit­ical culture shuns long-term thinking.

WHAT IS to be done? A necessary first step is the deconstruction of politics as now constituted. In line with the rabbinic idea that it is sometimes necessary to break a pot in order to repair it, and with Joseph A. Schumper's "constructive destruction" concept, we need to accept that unless present institutions, structures and approaches are demolished there is no hope for fundamental remodeling.

This is the right time. Taken together, near-revolutionary developments in the Labor and Likud parties, combined with changes in the Orthodox parties and the establishment of a new centrist party by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, satisfy a nec­essary condition for profound reconstruc­tion of our politics.

However, by themselves they do not ensure that any emerging new model will be a good one. For this, some conscious cultural and institutional redesign based on innovative thinking is required. Pro­posals for constitutional reform, however important, do not alone satisfy this need. Indeed, a formal constitution by itself does not solve anything and may be counter­productive if it freezes atrophied struc­tures. Instead we must:

. radically change the way we teach civics in schools to provide the next generation with a real understanding of major national issues and the nature of politics.   .

. change the work patterns of the Knesset to achieve serious discussion of major pol­icy issues, based on thoughtful position papers and analysis developed by govern­ment and Knesset professionals.

. put responsibility for society's major value judgments where it belongs, with elected officials, and reduce judicial activism which allows politicians to avoid hard choices.

. change the ,electoral system and move toward a presidential regime with due safe­guards and checks and balances.

. reform the machinery of government by building a professional senior civil service, and reduce the number of ministries.

. develop a "Central Brain of Governance" for long-range, comprehensive and professional strategic planning.            .

. encourage the entry of younger and bet­ter-qualified persons into politics.

. set up a "National Issues College" some­thing akin to the Aspen Institute's retreat for business, political and academic elites, or the National Defense College, to foster confidential, in-depth discussion on major issues. At least a third of the participants should be below the age of 35.

. revise and strengthen shared formal and informal Jewish People forums.

DECONSTRUCTING the current political system together with the work of the Commission for Examination of the Struc­ture of the Government of Israel initiated by President Moshe Katsav, supported by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and organized by the Citizens' Empowerment Center, has already provided a basis for hope.

But illusions are dangerous. Granted, today's political turmoil could somehow resolve itself satisfactorily. But absent remodeling, and with inertia, vested interests and - to be frank - a lack of understanding by most politicians of what is wrong with them might well, in the long term, leave matters even more muddled than they are today.

The writer is professor of political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, founding president of the Jewish People Poli­cy Planning Institute and recipient of the 2005 Israel Prize for his work in public policy and strategic planning.