TORONTO — Things are looking up for the State of Israel, but its political system is the one key area that could use improvement, a leading Israeli political scientist says.

Speaking at Holy Blossom Temple May 11, Prof. Gabriel Ben-Dor sounded a mostly positive note about Israel’s future.

“The State of Israel today is in surprisingly good shape,” he said. “Things are going very well, indeed, despite what you may have heard to the contrary. There is every reason to be optimistic.”

Ben-Dor, who works at the Strategic Dialogue Center at Netanya College in Israel, cited a study of 2,000 people in which the overwhelming majority were very optimistic about Israel’s future and their future in Israel. The study, conducted by the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research, with the results published on Israel’s 61st birthday, found that 80 per cent of respondents described their status as “good” or “very good.”

Israel’s economy is also doing well, especially compared to other countries, Ben-Dor said, mentioning the low unemployment rate (6.1 per cent in 2008) and the strength of the shekel.

Three or four years ago, he said, his son was searching for an apartment in Tel Aviv and everything was priced in U.S. dollars. Today everything is in shekels because while the U.S. dollar keeps fluctuating, the shekel has remained relatively stable.

On another positive note, the Jewish population in Israel is increasing consistently, Ben-Dor said. Of 154,000 babies born in Israel in 2008, 70 per cent were Jewish. The Jewish population in Israel increases by about 120,000 people each year. With 5.6 million Jews currently living in Israel, he expects the Jewish population to reach six million in just a few years.

In spite of all the good news about Israel, Ben-Dor said there is one major area of concern: its political system.

Comparing Israel to a sports team with great players but poor management, he said the current system is no longer working,  and it hasn’t been for some time.

“Things are changing in Israel in just about every respect, other than the political system,” he said. “The system makes the country almost ungovernable.”

With the average length of an Israeli government being 22 months, Ben-Dor said, by the time one becomes established and is working on fixing problems, its time in office ends and nothing gets accomplished.

Many major public affairs decisions are made by the courts, legal advisers and the state comptroller, none of whom are elected by the Israeli public.

Another major concern is that most Israelis see politics as a disgraceful profession, Ben-Dor said.

“The best people in Israeli society refuse to enter political life, depriving the state of high-quality politicians.”

The result is that recycled people end up running, such as Benjamin Netanyahu, now serving as prime minister for the second time.

Ben-Dor made many suggestions for how the political system can be improved, including taking cues from Germany. In Germany, the minimum percentage of the national vote required to get a seat in parliament is five per cent. In Israel, it’s two per cent. Increasing the percentage of the required vote would mean fewer political parties in the Knesset, he said.  

Other reforms that Ben-Dor believes would improve the Israeli political system include making it difficult to overthrow a government, decreasing the frequency of elections and the number of parties, and giving more power to elected MKs.

He also supports having no more than five political parties: one in the centre, one on the left, one on the right, one for Arabs and one for religious Jews.

Currently, none of the five leading parties have even 30 seats in the Knesset.

Holding elections every four years would also help to create a more stable government, he said.

“The electoral system in Israel might have been OK 50 years ago, but it is not OK today,” he added.

“When electoral systems no longer serve their purpose, you should not bow down to them – you should change them.”