Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 29, 1990, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg of Ltd press april Page issues the crisis in political system is inefficient by Ilya Gerol special to the free press the outdated and inefficient electoral system in Israel has become the main Obsta Cle towards effective peace negotiations with the in the Long the system which is dominated by the unpopular and sometimes extremist Small parties makes Israel vulnerable to foreign influence while weakening the position of any israeli govern ment created As a result of esoteric political games and shaky inter factional Yasser the chairman of the advised israeli arabs to vote for Shimon the Leader of the israeli labor should the political crisis in Israel end in yet another parliamentary elec the chief rabbi of la a jewish denomination with the majority of its members residing in new made a passionate Appeal to his followers in Israel not to vote for Peres and his dovish labor the soviet jews who Are arriving these Days in Israel by the hundreds Are immediately announcing their intentions never to vote for Peres because he is a and they have had enough of socialism in their a political system which for Many years had been considered by the israelis As an exemplary one has finally turned into a you need Only votes in order to be elected to the the israeli parliament which is mod Elled on the first assemblies of ancient jews at the initial stages of their this romantic democracy has developed into a major problem not Only in israels internal but in Jerusalem position in the Middle East peace Twenty thousand fanatics who supported the racist rabbi Meir Kahane with his vows to expel the arabs and to ban marriages Between jews and made him a member of the it took the supreme court of Israel two years to ban Kahane and his Kach party for promoting racial hatred and Vio popular vote unlike the majority of the demo cratic countries Israel does not have a Law that would require Polit ical parties to obtain from three to eight per cent of the popular vote in order to be elected to in Israel any party a tiny group of Ultra orthodox rabbis who dont recognize the legitimacy of for or a hastily created group of right or left Wing radicals can influence the Politi Cal course of the and prevent any administration from governing for an indefinite during the current political crisis in Israel the liked Block and the labor Alliance have 60 supporters in the Knesset this makes a political impasse a permanent Fea Ture of the israeli every political including the crucial question of War and the palestinian prob the influx of the soviet As Well As social issues and Worsen ing relations Between secular and religious have been thrown away during the current government the Hunt for defectors has become the event of the the members of the Knesset religious factions have been treated by both liked and labor As the most precious political promised More every time members of the Ahu Dat the orthodox religious promised Peres their sup the liked led by acting prime minister Yitzhak promised them More say in running the educational More Money for religious schools and stricter Observance of the Sabbath by the state institutions and com some of the parliamentarians have switched sides two or three times in the last a year ago i asked Shamir about the most painful aspects of israeli political for Shamir it was the coalition government with the labor our electoral system has be come a you would conclude that we should immediately change he said with an ironical my answer is we do need a new Law that would restrict the Small parties from imposing their will on the but who will be the first to introduce such a Law it wont be had i pro posed the religious parties would go with who would have already been prime minister if not for the religious parties which promised him their support but then abruptly withdrew is More enthusiastic about introducing a ceiling for the Small parties on their Way to the but he is also afraid to be the after even one vote could deprive Peres of a Chance to be come prime an aide to Peres after the series of Hasty agreements about temporary Gener Ous promises to the tiniest parties in the israeli political Shavirs liked and Peres labor party came to the same gloomy score there is always a possibility of a new election As but in the present the popular vote almost certainly would again end in a in this situation it is quite Possi ble that both liked and labor will again opt for a coalition which will continue an abnormal system of governing without major Deci Sions being particularly on the crucial palestinian wilful Folly charts a course for disaster by Anthony Lewis new York times Boston King in Shakespeare destroys himself by acts of wilful the wanting to cry out against the self destruct watches in it has been something like that watching the government of Israel these last wilful Folly has brought israels closest friends to cry out in but the course seems fixed for think what has prime minister Shamir proposed a peace plan starting with elections among palestinians in the West Bank and to carry it out he engaged the Bush then he sabotaged his own the Shamir government at a time of crisis for the two major parties engaged in a bidding in millions of dollars for the support of extremist the legitimacy of the whole political system was brought into then Shavirs caretaker govern ment covertly subsidized a jewish settlement in the most provocative place imaginable the Christian Quarter in the old City of Jerusa after denying for 11 Days that it had anything to do with the the government admitted that it had paid million through a panamanian front the american Israel Public affairs the powerful pro Israel lobbying group in washing sent a message to Shamir deploring the a thoughtful american jewish Leader fiercely supportive of Abraham National director of the anti defamation league of Bani fire the culprits the time now is for the israeli government to repudiate this Inci to fire those responsible and to make a Clear statement by the prime minister indicating that this was not and is not government i think nothing Short of that will restore credibility to the israeli government when it is essential for its dealings with friends and the state department was unusually direct in its the Margaret to said the settlers takeover of a hospice in the Christian Quarter was insensitive and and the governments Covert sub Sidy of it deeply the Shamir in has offended the two parties on which Israel relies most heavily for they Are the organized american jewish Community and the much of the jewish Community is angry at Shamir for reasons beyond the Jerusalem most american jews favor israels withdrawal from occupied territory in return for assured a policy that Shamir his peace plan gave americans reason to support israeli policy and then he would not carry it Israel now wants Large scale new private contributions to help House soviet it is asking con Gress for million in housing loan on top of the billion in annual Aid to at this moment the Shamir govern ment decides to spend precious funds on a provocative the official defence of the Jerusa Lem settlement from israels foreign said it is the right of jews to live every and to Purchase or rent property in All parts of the land of and especially in Jerusa of course jews should be Able to live where they in Israel or but that is not the the Issue is the Way this project was with what offence to tradition and the feelings of the mayor of Teddy who has done so much to hold that turbulent City called the settlement and an act that has harmed israels position in in More than stupidity has informed recent Shamir has been moved by ideology his reluctance to recognize any pales Tinian i am convinced that most israelis would respond warmly if and when peace talks with the palestinians Ever Shamir and his colleagues precisely want to prevent that response and the com promises that must extreme right the desire to remain in Power is also a to that end Shamir is making gestures to the even More extreme last week his government started two More Settle in the West Bank and Israel has real problems on its for one the menace of Iraq Saddam it should be cementing friendships and trying to talk with palestinians who Are ready for but the course is for rejection and major issues Divide doctors and government words do not necessarily mean what they appear to mean when officials of the Manitoba medical association Are prior to the last round of Neotia a letter from Mma executive director John Laplume to Deputy health minister Frank Maynard seemed quite specific about what the association required to Stop its threat to withdraw or curtail ser the first requirement was an objectively conducted study and Analy Sis of the factors contributing to annual increases in the volume of medical it was hoped such action would satisfy the govern ments desire to find ways of meet ing unlimited service demands with limited in the Mma executive would recommend acceptance of the earlier if the government withdrew in its demand that medical services be arbitrarily capped or rationed in any manner whatsoever an Issue which had been one of the prime reasons for the associations under the dome Arlene Billinkoff those requirements were but As indicated by the associations subsequent departure from the negotiating committee and its renewed threat of withdrawal of the offer still did not go far the government was willing to ensure no Cap on increased Bill Ings and pledged to undertake an immediate study of factors Contri buting to increases in with the results to be available prior to next years therein was the problem for Mma who wanted a three year without that they feared a Cap might be imposed in the future and with the governments unwillingness to accept binding a would accelerate the con according to the the Mma had rejected the initial three year in a let Ter to chief negotiator Gerry Irving said this oneyear agreement would provide a window of Opportunity for both parties to negotiate the next agreement with a solid basis of impartial analysis and that letter was also a formal request to refer the proposed Settle ment to the membership for Ratific but if president Lloyd Bart Letts reaction was any there would not be in Stead he said the Mma had been preparing for an extended Battle Long before the new proposal was billboard space and radio time had already been Bartlett maintained such action was not an indication of bargaining in bad the Money was being spent to warn about the dangers to he without a guar Antee that there would not be a Cap on Billing increases in the he did not Trust this government and believed it was planning major Cut backs in the Public must be made aware of this he in his Irving emphasized that contrary to Mma the original offer did not limit Access to medical the three year package had been rejected because it contained the principle of shared responsibility whereby any Billing increase above two per cent would be shared equally by the province and the another stumbling Block was the associations desire for binding arbitration to Settle any negotiation dead the Mma insists it would be the easy Way to avoid confrontation for All the goal May sound but the last time the pro Cess was there was even More conflict after heated Worktop Rule exercises and a lengthy rotating in late 1984 the government and the Mma agreed to test binding arbitration for four with each party having the right to end the agreement after giving proper no in a salary Issue went to the government had offered an increase of per while the Mma wanted per the arbitration Board decided on per a ruling which the govern ment insisted had failed to recognize its financial therefore it withdrew from the agreement and the arbitration process was the Issue remains Paramount with the but should it be part of current negotiations the govern ments latest offer was As health minister Don Orchard there was no reason to spend thousands of dollars on ads about rationing or capping services when the Issue was no longer on the instead an i depth study would re solve the Billing but is the Mma executive pre pared to listen while Bartlett said he preferred a peaceful he admitted there is a detailed plan for future action because the association does not Trust this appropriate action would be taken when it would be most possibly in anticipation of the next an Appeal to the voters May be the Only cure for what is ailing the he if the tories form a he predicted they would take a tougher position about therefore the Mma would Campaign against them and possibly for the whose Leader expressed support for binding but would that be the answer to the problem if another government merely Coo cedes to ail Mma the province would be in an even worse financial what is required is a willingness to sit Down and frustrated by the current Mma executives refusal to do Orchard said it appears they prefer Many who would prefer to do their jobs rather than May agree and can help bring about a Neva hostility is not the Way to Deal with Many legitimate a change of officials May Well change the the big problems will remain but some of the immedi ate concerns Are More Likely to be ;