To encourage public participation in the political game, Parliament was shaped
to allow for a high level of representation. Therefore, a very low threshold
(1.5% of the national vote, only 20,000-40,000 people) is needed to get a seat in
the Knesset. This, in turn, has created a fractured Parliament. The current
Knesset (the 15th, 1999-2003) includes 15 parties! In the 1980s, American influ-
ence prevailed, and parties started electing their candidates through a Prima-
ries system, rather than appointing them by a central committee. The Primaries
have shifted the nature of Israeli politics. While past generations of politicians
focused on the internal workings of a party machine, current politicians per-
ceive the media and their external appearance as crucial for their success.
JUDICIAL. The judicial structure of Israel was also shaped under the British
mandate, and until the 1980s British traditions and methods of interpretation
prevailed. However, some legal tools designed by the British were trans-
formed through the years and were awarded a different role. The foremost
example is a unique procedure that grants a universal right (even for non-cit-
izens in some cases) to appeal directly to the Supreme Court against any
administrative action taken by the Executive branch. The British devised this
appeal in order to leave the final word with their colonial judges. The appeal
( Bagatz," also an acronym for the High Court of Justice) was transformed to
be the main vehicle for safeguarding the Liberal Democratic nature of the
State of Israel. With the absence of a formal constitution, Supreme Court
decisions were for many years the dominant legal source for buttressing civil
liberties, such as freedom of speech. The political deadlock of the 1980s and
the weakening image of the legislature in the 1990s served to strengthen the
Supreme Court. The activism of the Supreme Court incurred mounting criti-
cism from political parties (mostly religious) that felt that it had over-
stepped its authority. Alongside the secular system, Israel has a religious
court system which deals mainly with family issues.
EXECUTIVE. The Executive branch had been the dominant branch for most
years, for institutional and historical reasons. Institutionally, until 1996
(and again after 2003), a Prime Minister would be appointed only once he
formed a coalition in Parliament. Historically, the constant security threat
has given the Executive a wide leeway in various issues, as it is responsible
for dealing with external danger. However, the 1990s marked the gradual
weakening of the Executive, and even an assassination of a Prime Minister,
Yitzhak Rabin, in 1995.
In an effort to reassert the Executive's power, the system was changed in
1996 and Prime Ministers were elected directly. This change did not bring
about the warranted result and in the proceeding five years the system was
even less stable. In 2001, the law was amended yet again and the old system
restored. Given the central role of the armed underground movements that
fought the British, and later the Defense Force, the Israeli Executive has
absorbed former underground leaders, Chiefs of Staff and Generals. Of 11
Prime Ministers, 2 headed underground organizations (Menahem Begin and
Yitzhak Shamir), 2 were Chiefs of Staff of the armed forces (Yitzhak Rabin
and Ehud Barak) and one was a General (Ariel Sharon). 3 others served as
Ministers of Defense (David Ben Gurion, Levi Eshkol, Shimon Peres) prior
to or while serving as Prime Minister.