The Unmaking of Israel by Gershom Gorenberg

Author:Gershom Gorenberg
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins

In Israeli political discussion, the standard explanation for the ultra-Orthodox parties’ clout is that they hold the balance of power in parliament: since they can sell their support to a coalition of the left or of the right, they can drive up the bids from both sides. This description is misleading. Haredi parties have consistently preferred right-wing governments. Yet even when Labor won the 1992 election and Ehud Olmert’s centrist Kadimah did so in 2006, they sought alliances with the ultra-Orthodox. The real foundation of haredi strength lies elsewhere—in the exclusion of Arab-backed parties from power.

In 1992, when Rabin was elected, two parties drawing their votes mainly from Palestinian citizens of Israel won a total of five seats in parliament. By 2006, three Arab-supported parties held a total of ten seats. The meaning of Labor’s 1992 election victory was that together with the Arab parties and another left-wing party, it won a majority in the Knesset. The same was true of Kadimah’s victory.

But the iron rule, ever since Ben-Gurion disqualified the Communists, is that Arab-backed parties are not candidates for the coalition and cabinet. The most polite explanation is that as long as the Israeli-Arab conflict continues, Arab-backed parties cannot be trusted with sharing responsibility for national security. The less polite explanation is that much of the Jewish majority does not see a government resting partly on Arab votes as legitimate.

Coalition building is like shopping: the major party must pay its smaller partners in some political coin. If there are several potential partners, each must set a lower price for its support. Because the Arab parties are eliminated, the ultra-Orthodox can charge more.

To Rabin’s credit, he pushed the limits on Arab participation more than any Israeli leader before or after. Without formally including the Arab-backed parties in his coalition, he reached agreements under which they supported his government in parliament. In turn, the government allocated funds to make up for long neglect of Arab communities. As one Communist Knesset member told me at the time, Rabin treated the Communist Party as a publicly acknowledged mistress, an improvement on the past but hardly sufficient. When Shas quit the coalition, Rabin stayed in power with the help of the Arab parties, which was one more factor in the right’s fury against him. Since his assassination, no other leader has had the courage to follow his example or go further.

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