Newspaper Page Text
Pare Twelve
Friday, Sept. 9, 1955
THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Meaning of Israeli Vote
By Rinna Grossman
The elections are over. The ex
citement has died down. Through
out the country, party leaders now
hasten to interpret the outcome
to their followers. Some of those
who were fortunate, rush to in
flate relative gain into absolute
victory. Others, more doleful,
must justify apparent defeat and
Mappy
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gently suggest its inevitability.
But as for us, we can take time
out to put two and two together
and examine some of the more
meaningful features of the vari
ous decisions made at the polls
last week by the men and wo
men of Israel.
Perhaps the most significant of
these was the national decision to
vote, to uphold the ritual and the
essence of democratic govern
ment, to cast their ballots for their
chosen representatives. The sta
tistic is an impressive one. Over
80 per cent of the possible voters
stood in line to vote. At least a
third of these were people who
had not voted for more than two
decades — those who came to Is
rael from lands where democratic
procedure has been set aside —
or those who came from distant
and dark lands where voting is
unknown and democracy has not
yet arrived. And the elections
were orderly. There were no ri
ots. There were no uncontrolled
resentments. People behaved as
though this was a wholly familiar
procedure — and they behaved
well. The Arabs of Israel voted,
more of them proportionately ex
ercised this right than did the
Jews. By the act of voting they
reaffirmed their citizenship and
it was a good thing to watch.
As far as the world outside is
concerned, particularly the West
ern world, there are two primary
points of interest. In terms of
East-West conflict, 80 per cent of
the vote was given to those par
ties oriented Westward. As far
as the United States, specifically,
is concerned, more than two-
thirds of the vote went to parties
whose planks explicitly favored
close alliance with the U. S.
It seems to me, too, that anoth
er point emerged of special inter
est to the foreign observer
(though, oddly, few noted it);
more than two-thirds of the vote
was cast for those parties which
have participated in the Govern
ment, to one extent or another,
since the inception of the State.
And this, I feel, is one of the
more spectacular signs of Israel’s
fundamental stability and ought
to offer considerable reassurance
to those powers which still hesi
tate to attribute this quality to the
Jewish State.
Another item worth attention
is the fact that those parties
which gained since the last elec
tions — and in the first instance
these are two “extremist” parties
at opposite ends of the political
spectrum — are those which have
urged that Israel resolve its ten
sion and worry over a perilous se
curity situation by relying on our
military strength, and abandon
ing the policy of abiding by in
ternational guarantees and the
supervision of the UN. And many
of the people of Israel, harassed
and weary, found this call ap
pealing. It would be well if
Washington and London observed
this development correctly and,
I think, it would be wise if overt
support were given to those po
litical groups which have abstain
ed from this “activist” platform.
In more local terms, the one great
drawback of the present situation
is that as a result of Israel’s mul
ti-party, European-type system,
it seems unlikely that a really sta
ble, sound and more or less per
manent government can be form
ed right now. Whatever combin
ation enters the coalition, there
will still be need for placating,
for soldering together incompat
ible party lines — in a word, for
compromise.
I have always believed, quite
firmly, that prophecy is best left
either to fools or to saints, but
nonetheless I should like to risk
a small prediction that less than
the allotted four yqars’ span will
pass before Israel once again
faces a general election. And,
finally, by and large, this elec
tion that has just ended has serv
ed as reassurance to those who
needed it, and as a reminder to
those who might have forgotten,
that above all else the Jewish
State is a free and wholly dem
ocratic entity — and that in this
roje, among others, it has much to
teach its neighbors.
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