Israel’s political system never ceases to amaze. With all its problems, Israel continues as one of the world’s great democracies, and in a democracy the voters collectively get to answer the question as to who will make decisions on their behalf.
To be sure, in a parliamentary system such as Israel’s, as opposed to the system we have in the United States, new elections can be called just about any time the opposition makes things too hot for those in power. Even so, a measure of regularity and sense of incumbency ordinarily follows parliamentary elections, with the losers accepting the election returns. This is not, however, always the case in Israel.
In the recent British elections, Prime Minister David Cameron and his Conservative Party won a large majority, although the vote was expected to be tight. The disappointed leaders of several losing parties dutifully stepped down, even those who themselves were reelected to their parliamentary seats. In sum, despite the certain eventual emergence of a fierce opposition, there was a sense of finality to the elections and a legitimacy to the results.
The recent solid victory of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party produced something very different. From the moment the results were announced, Mr. Netanyahu’s main rival, the Zionist Union’s Isaac Herzog, began urging the prime minister to return his mandate to form a new government and allow President Rivlin to give it to someone else. Yesh Atid’s Yair Lapid railed against several of his colleagues for not being forceful enough in their criticism of the emerging coalition. And Yisrael Beiteinu’s Avigdor Lieberman followed suit, grumbling about the prime minister’s choices and refusing to join him.
There doesn’t seem to be any of the deference that one would expect in a vibrant democracy. Of course, the Netanyahu coalition’s majority is razor thin and the prime minister is doubtless faces a rough road ahead. But still, it seems odd that there is no apparent mood of finality in the wake of the decision of the voters. Then again, that’s Israel.