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Yoel Sheridan

An essential element of democracy has been distorted

All electoral systems falter when the differential between the two major blocs is too small. It is then that minorities, that hold the balance of power, demand a price that is well beyond their electoral strength and the more extreme are the concessions required to form a coalition government.

An essential element of democracy is for the minority to have a say without undue power and for the majority to have power, but not absolute power. This essential element has been distorted in the formation of the current Israeli government which is an alliance of convenience between different minority factions, none of which have a majority in the government without the support of all the others. This has created a situation where too much strength has been given to extremist minorities who do not have the popular support of the Israeli electorate and yet are trying to impose their own sectoral ideas that undermine the basic structure of a well-balanced democracy that must include an independent judicial system that ensures that governments obey their own laws and serves as a protector of democracy and the individual.

It is not uncommon internationally for non-democratic factions to use the democratic apparatus of a country to gain undemocratic power.  It cannot be allowed to happen here.

It is for the prime minister who is the leader of the senior faction in the government, to rein in his extremist allies and create an atmosphere of compromise that will protect Israel’s democratic institutions and calm down the growing fears of the general secular Israeli electorate.

About the Author
Yoel Sheridan was born in London England and made Aliya, with his wife, in 1973 in the middle of the Yom Kippur War. He was a Business and Management Consultant in Israel. Author of three books on British Jewry: "From Here to Obscurity" (2001), "Gold Ducats and Devilry Afoot" (2012), and "Antisemitism and the 1753 Jew Law Controversy" published January 2022
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