Volume 67, Issue 8

Dr. Gideon Doron Addresses Yeshiva Students
Notes Emergence of Upstart Shinui Party
by Ari Fridman

On Wednesday evening, January 22nd, Dr. Gideon Doron, president of the Israeli Political Science Association and a visiting professor of political science at Yeshiva College last semester, spoke to over seventy Yeshiva students at the Wilf Campus’s Rubin Shul about the current Israeli political scene.

Doron meticulously explained the process of filling the 120-seat Knesset in the then-upcoming elections, focusing on the “wheeling and dealing” employed by the majority party leader in forming his coalition.  After the votes are tallied and the winning party is determined, the president asks the leader of the party to form a coalition of majority Knesset seats.  This means that the incoming prime minister must garner at least sixty-one seats of the Parliament, forming what Doron termed the “grand coalition.”  The concept refers to the oft-used method of building a sprawling, national-unity government consisting of various factions, in the hope of engineering a show of support for the prime minister.

The move generally backfires, according to Doron, due to excessive demand from the coalition partners and too little supply from the prime minister.  This has proven particularly true of the Sharon government; last year, the prime minister was forced to call for early elections after the main coalition partner, the Labor party, walked out over a budget squabble.

The coalition theme struck a chord with another one of the evening’s topics, the emergence of the secularist Shinui party.

Founded in 1974, Shinui was originally a faction in the Democratic Movement for change, which had disbanded by 1981.  The party was able to gather a couple of seats in each successive parliament, but began to lose steam by the 1990’s.  In 1992, the leader of the movement, Amnon Rubinstein, decided on a bold move to save his party and to band together with another small faction and join the ultra-left movement Meretz.  By 1996, the party gained six seats in the Knesset and looked to be on the upswing.  However, the year 1999 saw the resignation of Rubinstein and a young, independent party without a leader.  The movement turned to journalist Yosef (Tommy) Lapid, who has since become a household name for his unabashed aversion towards ultra-Orthodox parties and for his insisting not to join in any coalition featuring such groups.

Since the founding of the state of Israel, there have traditionally been two leading parties, Labor and Likud.  The Labor party essentially dominated the scene until the late 1970’s and subsequently watched as the Likud rose to prominence and usurped Labor’s dominance.  Recently, however, Shinui has emerged as a potential third-party alternative to the Labor and Likud.  While in the past Shinui was typically represented by secular, middle-class Ashkenazi voters, the party has boosted its appeal and is exceeding all former popularity standards.  Case in point, Shinui accumulated 17 seats in the January 28th elections.

Doron spent a large segment of the evening detailing his thoughts on Shinui’s sudden, nascent popularity.  From the perspective of practicality, said Doron, many voters believed that this election is largely irrelevant and that the outcome will do little to change the reality on the ground.

“If votes do not affect policy, why bother?” said Doron.

Therefore, according to Doron, rather than stay at home and not come out to vote, Israelis chose the least threatening alternative.  Put simply, aside from its passionate opposition to the religious right, Shinui is viewed as very moderate on all the major issues, thereby making it a safe bet for the average voter.  Also, many traditional voters of the Labor party are disillusioned with the leadership, particularly Chairman Amram Mitzna and his dovish political outlook.  This has spurred Labor’s voters to switch over to Shinui, as a compromise between Labor and Meretz.  The leading reason, though, seems to be identification with Tommy Lapid, whose constant expression of his disapproval for the religious right, as well as the government subsidies of its constituents, apparently has found a welcome place amongst voters.

Doron is currently on sabbatical leave from his post as professor of political science, public policy, and political communication and strategy at Tel Aviv University.  An accomplished scholar in the Israeli political field, Doron has published dozens of articles and books.  Most notably, however, he served as campaign strategist for the late Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin during the 1992 election.

Now, Doron is working to promote civilian involvement in working toward “comprehensive” reforms in the Israeli political system.  Ultimately, Doron would like to see a complete overhaul of the Israeli Parliament, or Knesset, and a shift to a government structure along the lines of America’s.  One of the advantages of the American system, according to Doron, is a president who is not constrained by intra-party strife, thereby permitting him or her to work toward improvements in the necessary areas.  The current system has often proved treacherous for Israeli prime ministers, with twenty-nine different coalitions since 1949.  As Doron noted, only two of these coalitions – Golda Meir’s and Menachem Begin’s – have lasted their natural terms.

“Shinui could perhaps prevent Sharon… from establishing a broad-based coalition, said Mordechai Raskas, president of the YU Israel Club.  “This in turn will affect the world's perception of Israel and its actions, and the security situation itself. Doron's comments about Shinui I think led to an even more important point. The current Israeli political system has been proven ineffective and inefficient. Perhaps Doron's new organization and similar efforts will lead to a reform and even revolution in the Israeli political arena.” ¨

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