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Page Two
CARL ALPERT
THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Friday, July 21, 1972
Who Leads — Government Or People?
HAIFA — Some day the
Israel Government will have to
make a decision with respect
to borders with its neighbors
and the terms for a true peace
with its neighbors. Whatever
that decision may be, it will
have to command the backing
of the people of Israel, or it will
not stand. And that raises an
oft-repeated question here: Does
the Government of Israel make
a decision — ; and then , seek to
convince the people of its wis
dom? Or does the will of the
people express itself, and com
pel the Government to follow
its lead?
One of the most dramatic in
stances of the latter was in 1967
when, despite top political op
position, Moshe Dayan was
brought to the head of the De
fence Ministry as a result of the
outpouring of mass public opin
ion.
How is the Government to
determine the will of the peo
ple? Vociferous pressure groups
have made a science of elec
tronic amplification and public
relations devices so that a hand
ful can create a din which
sounds like the masses. This is
one of the objections frequently
raised when it is suggested that
any major problem facing the
Government should first be
submitted to national referen-
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dum. Demagogic propaganda
can influence decisions, and in
effect undermine true democ
racy.
There is not as much talk
about withdrawal from the
occupied areas. But only a year
ago the pressure for such with
drawal was very strong, even
within the Government. In Feb
ruary, 1971, a reliable public
opinion poll (Dahaf) asked the
Israel public: If and when the
Government is confronted with
a decision to return territory in
exchange for peace, should a
referendum be held before
hand? The result: 54.4% fav
ored a national poll first; 36.6%
were against. There was no
opinion from the remainder. It
is significant that the organiza
tions favoring a stand-pat pol
icy on the borders were the
ones that sought a referendum
—• firm in the knoweldge that
the public was against any
withdrawal.
The urgency of decision seems
to have abated in the meantime.
But when the time comes, no
Government in Israel would
dare put its signature to a peace
treaty which its electorate
would not support. Many be
lieve that is the reason why
preliminary suggestions for giv
ing up half the Sinai, or com
promising in some other form,
were quickly abandoned, at
least publicly. Instead, Mr.
Israel Galilee, who serves as
the official spokesman of Gov
ernment policy, enunciated the
new doctrine regarding the
Gaza Strip: Israel is there to
stay.
In these circumstances, the
doves arc* taking a new tack:
Israel is a democracy by repre
sentation, they say, and the
Knesset must make the decis
ions. Referendums can not be
held on issues of major impor
tance because the public can
not be trusted to render judg
ment. The voter acts on im
pulse, and without reference to
the long range implications of
policy.
To this political scientists re
ply that representative democ
racy is an outmoded product of
the 19th century and should be
replaced by the direct democra
cy of the people. Where the
people do not have a sufficient
voice there is a tendency either
to apathy, or to revolt against
the establishment which is de
tached from the masses. Fur
thermore, in Israel even repre
sentative democracy is not truly
representative, because the elec
torate has no direct vote for
candidates — only for parties
and the leadership selected in
advance by the party bosses.
Israelis are not politically
apathetic, though they are
politically conservative. They
do not easily change life-long
political loyalties. But when
they do have strong beliefs
they are ready to take to the
barricades for such beliefs, even
against their own Government.
Please do not consider the
above discussion an empty aca
demic exercise. It gets to the
very roots of political decision
and political action which may
affect the future of Israel.
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