Israel's Election: Proportional Representation
By HARRY M. ROSEN
for the entire list. If the Labor ' fairs, 'foreign affairs, who gets
(A Seven Arta Feature)
Party (today a coalition) gets—say what cabinet posts and a host of
7
Israel has a new government. —45 per cent of the total votes minor issues.
There are some who say, as the cast, they get 45 per cent of the
Ma'arakh, the labor alignment,
French have said about their own Knesset seats. That means that ran an advertiserhent in the Israeli
governments, "Le plus ca change, they get 54 seats, which is 45 per newspapers shortly after the elec-
le plus c'est la meme chose." cent of 120. This in turn means tions which said just that. Because
Freely translated, it's the same that the first 54 names on the they did not receive an absolute
old thing all over again.
Labor list become members of the majority, they had to begin labori-
The Labor Alignment had hoped Knesset.
ous (the pun is unintentional but
to get a clear majority of the 120
From an American or English applicable!) negotiations to form a
Knesset seats. They got 56, some- viewpoint, this means the' man in stable government, and they knew
thing less than the combined seats Congress or Parliament does not the price would be compromise
the same parties in the alignment represent a local constituency. You on issues—and cabinet portfolios—
had received in the last elections. can't write to your congressman in which were basic to their cam-
The centrist-right Gahal picked up Israel, because you don't have one. paign platforms and promises to
a couple of extra seats, there were If you belong to the Labor Party, the voters. The ad gently chided
minor shifts affecting the small you're much better off writing to the voters, saying in essence, "If
parties. But basically, the Knesset the prime minister.
we don't deliver all we promised
Not that you vote for the prime you, it's your own fault. You didn't
doesn't look much different from
previous Knessets as to political minister, as Americans, for ex- give us enough votes. Think about
composition. There are a few new ample, vote for a President. The it when you vote next time."
faces, but . . . Israelis seem to Israeli votes for a party list, and
In the meantime, Israel goes
think it's more of the same. And whichever party wins the most about its business, leaving the gov-
a few people are clamoring for votes gets to name the prime min- ernment to the parties and the
ister, who in turn gets to name a party leaders. Perhaps the differ-
change.
The system of elections is called cabinet.
ence between direct or proportion-
The biggest party has to put al representation is not really that
"Proportional Representation."
You vote for parties and party I together some combination of par- great in practice. In a country
lists, not for individuals. In other ties that will assure that combina- small enough and intimate enough
words, each party puts up a list of tion of a majority of Knesset for citizens to call their prime
120 candidates (there being 120 votes. This in turn means bargain. minister Golda and where every-
Knesset seats), and people vote ing about policies of internal af- body knows at least one cabi-
-- i net member or Knesset member
on a personal basis, because they
were on the same illegal boat, or
Here the small size of the stage worked on the same kibutz, or
By ELIAHU SALPETER
(Copyright 1969, JTA, Inc.)
—and of the audience—forced the because they belong to the same
JERUSALEM—There was a time ensemble to present more drawing family, the contact between citizen
when Habima was just a theater. room dramas or comedies in a and government gets to be pretty
For decades it was the national more restrained style, instead of direct.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
14—Friday, December 12, 1969
POINTERS ON POLLUTION
Many a person becomes ill from
stagnant and foggy air wafted into
his home by winds and breezes.
Choose wide-open spaces for your
residence, either on a steep, wood-
ed mountainside or, what is next
best, in the suburbs. Keep the air
dry by fumigation and sweet
scents. Clear air is most essential
for physical and mental health.
—Maimonides' Mishna Tora
Nothing so fortifies a friendship
as a belief on the part of one
friend that he is superior to the
other.—Honore de Balzac.
Habima Emerges
in Modern Form
tr,
theater of the Jewish people. Later,
it was given the official title of
National Theater and many people
remembered fondly the acting and
repertoire when the troupe was not
yet entitled to the capital letters in
its title. In recent years, for most
Telavivians, Habima meant pri-
marily the scaffolded eyesore in
the center of the city, at the end of
Rothschild Boulevard, while for
theater — goers, the more familar
place was the adjacent . "small
r
hall."
New Book on Youth Aliya
by Mrs. Louis Pincus
The story of Youth Aliya, which
has brought more than 120,000
children and teen-agers to Israel,
is told in a new book, "Come From
the Four- Winds — The Story of
Youth Aliya" by Chasya Pincus,
to be published this month by the
Herzl Press.
Beginning with its conception as
an idea at a meeting of young
Zionists in January 1933, when
Nazi storm troopers were march-
ing through the streets of Berlin
to celebrate their rise to power,
this new book by Mrs. Pincus tells
the story of Youth Aliya's 35
years in the personal stories of
many of its graduates, children
rescued from the concentration
camps of Europe and the ghettos
of the Middle East.
It traces the lives of these
Youth Aliya graduates from
their childhood days in the
countries of their birth to their
present lives in Israel.
Originally organized in Berlin
as the Committee for Aid to Jew-
ish Youth. Youth Aliya came into
being in 1934 under the guidance
of Recha Freier, mother of South-
field gynecologist Dr. Andrew
Freier, and by the late Henrietta
Szold. In addition to literally sav-
ing the lives of many of its
charges, Youth Aliya has played
a significant role in the building
of Israel. It has been responsible
for approximately 10 pee cent of
Israel's aliya.
DIETS FOR DIABETICS
the familar resounding bathos.
Here one could realize that Habima
had some good younger actors who
come to their own when they are
not overshadowed by older col-
leagues still trying to wear the
mantle of Stanislayski and Vach-
tangel.
This year, they gave an im-
pressive production of Pirandel-
lo's Six Characters and a quite
enjoyable production of the
"pocket musical," Fantastics.
In a few weeks, however, the
scaffoldings in front of the main
building will be taken down and,
with several millions of public
money in its new driveway, glass-
and-concrete enlarged facade and
refurbished orchestra pit, the Ha-
bima building will again show its
face to the public. It will, of course,
be an unveiling not only in the
physical sense. Habima will again
be expected to try to become a
Nathional. Theater not only in
name and in the presentation of
patriotic pieces from time to time,
but also as the top-quality stage of
the nation. It has a fair chance to
make it.
Instead of "collective manage-
ment," there is now a general
manager (a former newspaper edi-
tor) and an artistic director (a top-
flight director from Britain) to
guide matters material and mat-
ters spiritual. No. longer will the
ch c of plays be made by. and
a ording to the personal prefer-
ces senior actors and direc-
tors. on a divide-the-cake basis.
The first three plays were picked
by the artistic director solely with
an eye, we are told, to the quality
of the pieces and to audience-inter-
est.
Another innovation will be that
new plays will not be rushed out,
shortly after first night, into the
provinces. Habima, like almost all
Israeli theater groups, is stationed
in Tel Aviv. (The Haifa Municipal
Theater is a notable, and high
standard, exception). The major
theatres have a repertoire of three
to four plays enabling them to
divide the troupe into two—and
sometimes even three casts. This
enables them to give important
roles to a large number of actors
simultaneously.
Diets for diabetics impose few
nutritional or flavor hardshiiis on
Habima now plans to stage for
those who follow them. Even non-
diabetics can enjoy and benefit Tel Aviv three plays which will
from diabetic diets, especially if run on alternate nights for many
they are overweight. The dia- weeks. The sets will be in semi-
betic's diet differs widely from . permanent position in the refur-
most fad or "starvation" diets, be- bished building's modern back-
cause it gives the diabetic the cor- stage and be easy to move into
rect proportions of carbohydrates, position. Only after local audience
fats, proteins, minerals, and vita- interest has been exhausted, will
mins that he needs for good the play—and the sets—be moved
to the road.
nutrition.
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