Ahead of a fourth general election in under two years, Yohanan Plesner, President of the Israel Democracy Institute, joins us to discuss what needs to be done to come out of the ongoing political crisis that has left Israel without a stable government, a state budget for three years on end, and an effective response to the Covid pandemic.
This episode is made possible by the Israel Democracy Institute, an independent center of research and action dedicated to strengthening the foundations of Israeli democracy.
“It’s a great country worth fighting for”: It’s the only country. States will always exist; the question is how within them power is allocated and curtailed. To not fight for Israel is to implicitly bow to the concept of unchecked power. This is true for all countries.
I have a question: Do any of you three really want a constitutional convention with, at its end, a text, once ratified, far harder to change than a present Basic Law? When, for your own values, is it optimal to write a constitution? Before State formation as such? Would it be better, then, to already have a partial constitution locked in, supplemented by a convention? Do you really think a convention called now would form a constitution you would like? And, if one is called, how should it be constituted? Sectors of variable size? How many representatives per sector? Say three highest in votes? And would a Knesset majority ever consent to a convention created externally to it?
Ok, more than one question. I guess the point is that its one thing to hope for a constitution, another to get one.