THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Inexperience May Create Added
Problems for Israel's Knesset

By UZI BENZIMAN

(Copyright 1978, JTA, Inc.)

JERUSALEM-* In many
ways, some indefinable,
others more identifiable,
the Knesset seems to have,
lost some of its prestige and
dignity during its present
term. The elections last
year brought to Israel's Par-
liament some 50 new mem-
bers.
One of the main objective
causes has , been the peace
negotiations. Even though
the peace process started
with an impressive and
dramatic scene in the Knes-
set plenum (Egyptian
President Anwar Sadat's
speech) which brought the
Israeli Parliament into the
focus of world attention, the
peace process was sub-
sequently pursued behind
closed doors, far from the
public — and parliamen-
tary — eye.
The natural necessity for
secrecy during the delicate
negotiations prevented the
Knesset and even its
prestigious foreign affairs
and defense committee,
from being informed and
updated about the various
stages of the political talks
between Egypt, Israel and
the U.S.
the
Consequently,
committee, which is the
main parliamentary
supervisory organ over
the government's foreign
policy, could not play a
significant role in the
issue which has preoccu-
pied Israeli public opin-
ion over the past year.
Neither would the Knes-
set plenum fulfill this func-
tion; people knew that the.
real - events were taking
place on the Cabinet level
alone.
Another reason for the
waning of the Knesset's
prestige was the gov-
erment's failure, espe-
cially during the early
-m-onths, to fill the par-
liamentary agenda with
legislative activity.
During its first year, the
Ninth Knesset dealt with
relatively unimportant
bills, most of them aimed at
establishing changes in.,
existing fiscal, laws. Only
towards the end of the 1978
summer session did the
government complete the
drafting of a number of new
bills (most of them origi-
nally initiated by the prev-
ious administration) and
present them in the Knes-
set. These bills will fill out
the Knesset's winter session-
which commenced in No-
vember, with a respectable
mass of legislative business.
But the main cause of
the decrease in the Knes-
set's dignity is its per-
sonal composition. For
the first time in its his-
tory, one of the present
MKs has a criminal past,
while another was pub-
licly\ under suspicion of
criminal activities.
Charlie Biton, previously
a "Black Panther" leader
and now a Knesset member
for the Communist Party,
was,c0ovictedAe_veral times

on criminal charges before
he became a member of the
Knesset. These charges had
no connection with his pub-
lic activity as one of the
Black Panthers.
Shmuel Flatto-Sharon es-
tablished a precedent in
parliamentary life through
his successful campaign for
Knesset election - at a time
when he was wanted by the
French police on 'fraud
charges.
Flatto-Sharon has had a
negative impact on par-
liamentary life in a differ-
ent way. As an MK he did
virtually nothing.
Biton and Shmuel
Flatto-Sharon are ex-
treme examples of a
problematic situation
concerning the composi-
tion of the Ninth Knesset.
There are other more
subtle problems which
have a considerable im-
pact on the Knesset's
functioning and image.
The major trouble is the
lack of experience among
most MKs in most addle
parties. Some 50 MKs
were elected for the first
time and for some 30
others this is only their
second term.
Even the Speaker, Yit-
zhak Shamir, is a relative

junior MK with only one
term — four years. — of
previous parliamentary ex-
perience.
The same inexperience
prevails among his de-
puties, who together com-
prise the Knesset
"Presidium." None of them'
has more than four years
experience in the Knesset.
Some are actually in their
first year of service. The de-
puty speakers are chosen
according to party key.
The lack of parliamen-
tary tradition is reflected
in other aspects of Knes-
set life: the whips of the
two main parties are rela-
tive newcomers, as are
the leaders of the main
caucuses.
Due to the political up-
heaval of the elections and
the establishment of the
Likud coalition govern-
ment, all the chairmen of
the Knesset's 10 commit-
tees are new. None has
previous experience in con-
ducting a parliamentary
committee, and many are
serving in the Knesset for
the first time. The cumula-
tive- consequences of these
weaknesses is an inevitable
dec,line in Knesset proce-
dures and tradition, and in
deterioration'in its prestige.

Friday, December 22, 1918 31

Scientist Proves Einstein Theory

WASHINGTON — The
National Science Founda-
tion has announced that as-
tronomers have discovered
the first evidence of
gravitational., waves, thus
confirming Albert Eins-
tein's general theory of rela-
tivity.
Prof. Joseph H. Taylor of
the University' of Massa-
chusetts monitored radio
waves from a burned out
star (pulsar) for four years.
The pulsar he discovered in
1974 is the only one known
to orbit another star.
By monitoring the pul-

sar's radio signals he was
able to prove that
gravitational waves exist, a
phenomenon predicted by
Einstein's theory but never
found. Taylor's pulsar is lo-
cated 15,000 light years
(approximately 85,000 trill-
ion miles) from. earth.

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