Uriel Lin, a Likudnik (Member of Knesset in the 11th and 12th Knessets), had and will have no chance of being on the list of the current Knesset, not even the previous one. This is the extinct breed of right-wing Likudniks, especially Mizrahi, for whom the democratic kingdom precedes the strange assembly that is the Likud list today.
Almost 30 years after his parliamentary career, he conjures up his proposals to change the system of government through a series of laws that he pushed as chairman of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee. And this despite the fact that it was a strange unity government with an equally strange rotation (Shamir and Peres alternate prime ministers and Yitzhak Rabin Permanent Minister of Defense) that somehow lasted until the crisis of the Peres takeover maneuvers. Rabin called the maneuvers of the Peres defectors “the stinking exercise”, today these are political industries that are received with a shrug of the shoulders.
Lin then built an inter-party team that drafted laws that were supposed to establish Israeli democracy so as not to slide into today’s situation. In the book he wrote with his partner attorney Shlomo Levia, “How the political system in Israel was changed 1990-2022”, he describes the story of that time as a success story. The problem is that despite the joint work, the correct wording and the passing of the laws, we got to where we are. But it’s nice to remember.
For example, a fundamental law: the government that included the principle of direct election of a prime minister. read and sigh a sigh of relief. In the current composition of Israel’s population, Netanyahu could be Israel’s Victor Urban. Putin he couldn’t be because of his cowardice, but as a local urban he could easily degenerate us into a theocratic plutocracy. Or the law intended to “eradicate the phenomenon of cronyism (the defection of Knesset members to the ranks of the opposing camp in exchange for personal favors) by eliminating the ability to enjoy these favors.” And to that we say Oyyyy. As if the poison industry of bribery, threats and incitement did not bring down a government these days.
Another rule is to increase the blocking percentage. The idea is correct, but it was only carried out in part because of the opposition of the tribal-sectoral elements that did not prevent later bizarre election circuses, not to mention the loss of mandates due to internal disputes. The problem is not right or left, but a problem of mandates that should more accurately reflect the differences between the camps.
The most problematic basic law is a basic law: human dignity and freedom. The good intention immediately shattered on the rocks of the reality of the apartheid state, and it also spills over to the green line when it comes to Arabs and leftists. Want examples from the language of the law? “Every person is entitled to the privacy and modesty of his life… no one violates the secret of a person’s conversation in his writings or records… every authority from the governing authorities must respect the rights according to this law of rights.”
Not to mention other laws such as “a ban on any partisan activity of civil servants who are members of the parties’ electoral bodies”, or “a ban on the use of amulets and oaths as a way to persuade voters”. Shall we bring examples of the endless violations?