What next?

Last night I was the moderator for a Panel Discussion that took place at the
AACI Netanya (Brit Oleh America) General Meeting on the subject "Israel -
what next?" In my introductory remarks I emphasized that this was not meant
to be an opportunity to rehash the arguments over the disengagement plan. I
needn't have worried since the three speakers had more general and long-term
concerns in mind.
Elaine Levitt from Ma'alot in Galilee, a former past national president of
AACI, who has written a book about her experiences living in Israel, was
concerned about electoral reform. Many of you will know that Israel has a
Parliamentary system based largely on the French type of system, where party
proportions determine the composition of a coalition government. We do not
have a "representative" type of system like the UK or the US, where specific
MPs or Congressmen/Senators represent a specific geographic constituency.
Many people consider this lack of specific representation and the dominance
of parties a major cause of lack of democracy and corruption in Israeli
politics. However, attempts at reforming the system have been unsuccessful,
mainly because the major parties gain from this system and so have no real
incentive to reform it.
Aharon Korson, a well-known lawyer and AACI member in Netanya, with liberal
views, was more concerned that Israel not hold onto land that it didn't need
and rather give up the age-old dream of Eretz Yisrael and become instead
Medinat Yisrael, a democratic state. Once the disengagement from Gaza was
accomplished the pattern has been set for Israel to accommodate itself to
the Palestinians and the rest of the world.
Moshe Shamir, a Holocaust survivor, long-time Zionist and well-known
philanthropist in our community, spoke eloquently and with feeling about his
experiences and the need for a re-evaluation of Israel's situation. He
called for everyone to sit together, irrespective of political position, and
talk about how we can improve the internal situation of the country, and
imbue our youth with a patriotic spirit.
I spoke (briefly) about the book that I am reading "The Oslo Syndrome:
delusions of a people under siege," pointing out that we Jews/Israelis tend
to try to self-reform to become acceptable to our enemies, but unfortunately
it doesn't work. This was true in Europe in relation to the anti-Semites,
the socialists (with the dream of international brotherhood) and is now true
of the Arabs/Palestinians, for example the Oslo accords, the disengagement.
Aharon Korson disagreed, pointing out that relations with India, China, and
even Pakistan, are more important to us than holding onto biblical land, and
one technical institute is more important to Israel now than the land of
Gush Katif and other agricultural settlements. He called for better
technical education and more emphasis on cities than settlements.
I was impressed that these speakers chose to address long-term and
fundamental aspects of the Israeli situation rather than short term
political aspects, such as when will there be an election, who will win
(Sharon or Netanyahu), what is happening to the Likud and Labor parties,
etc? Maybe that is the lesson about what is next for Israel. That we have
people concerned with long-term considerations means that we can face the
undoubted challenges ahead with some confidence.