A Knice Visit

Going back to fill in some of the past events which I did not cover. Tuesday morning was rainy and cold in Jerusalem. Which was fine, because it was a day chock full of meetings. All day, all rain.

We got to the Knesset, went thru tight security (much tighter than the NSC) and walked across the famed plaza. The Knesset is the legislative body of Israel, but (of course), since it is a Parliamentary system, it is also the base of the “executive.”

We went in to a relatively deserted building (Knesset knot in session) and got a tour from “Shirley” (the Anglo version of her name). First we watched a short film on the history and operations of the Knesset. The movie provided a helpful history and overview. Shirley then led us around the Knesset, including into the Plenum “important” visitors gallery, where we received a description of the seating, voting, etc. The seats on the floor of the Plenum are shaped to look like a Menorah, with the Prime Minister at the center seat of the “government table” which is smack in the middle. The Arab parties sit behind them in the middle, and then the opposition and the majority sit across from each other.

The main visitors gallery is two floors up is separated from the rest of the big room by bulletproof glass, because of a thrown grenade back in the 1950s. Anyone is welcome – including foreign visitors, so I’d recommend going (just wish it had been in session that day, so hopefully you’ll get lucky.)

After that, we walked through the Chagall Hall, which has tapestries and mosaics done by Marc Chagall – very beautiful, evocative stuff and headed downstairs into a new wing of the Knesset – the committee hearing rooms section. After a short wait, we met with four Members – one from each of the top four vote getting parties.

(I know you aren’t reading this for a primer on Israeli politics – and if you are, you won’t get one here. That disclaimer not withstanding, the four largest parties only won a combined 73 seats out of the 120, which means there are a lot of 2-4 seat small parties with which to negotiate and form a majority for government. Simply having 61 seats doesn’t work, because then any one MK could – and would – hold the government hostage before bringing it down. Thus endeth the lesson.)

The first MK was Tzipi Hotovely from Likud. Likud is the center-right party headed by once and again PM Bebe Netanyahu. Hotobely is a 30 year old lawyer and former political talk show guest. She’s a new MK, and she spoke in broader generalities – which makes sense, since she had just been elected. The government had not yet been formed, so things were still in a state of flux. Her strengths were her passion and vision. Her weakness was her lack of details.

The second MK was Yohanan Plessner from Kadima. This party is only a few years old, and actually won the most seats (28, compared to Likud’s 27). They couldn’t form a majority, however, and will be the opposition (for now, and then they’ll win at some point). Plessner was the Director-General of the party as it was getting going, went to the Kennedy School at Harvard, and served in key positions in the IDF. Plessner’s strengths were his ability to analyze a situation, his coolness under fire, and his experience as an operative before his election. His weakness is his arrogance. The others all could provide positive perspective towards the other parties/leaders, but not Plessner. From the way he talked, I thought he thought Kadima won 61 seats on their own!

Daniel Ben Simon was the Labor MK. That night was THE key meeting about the future of the Labor party. Labor is the left wing party that ran the country from its birth until Menachem Begin won in the 1970s. Simon was quite funny – a former journalist who had just been elected for the first time, Simon had us in stitches with his gallows humor about the challenges facing Labor. They only won 13 seats, and now they may split from disagreement on joining with Netanyahu to help form a coalition government (led by Likud). His strengths were his forthrightness and his humor. His weakness was not him, but that his party is on life support.

After a bit of a wait where we stood around and talked about the three Members and the political situation (along with a funny, yet off the record exchange between Chip and Leigh, with yours truly chiming in to “help” Chip). MK Danny Ayalon joined us. He’s from the controversial right wing party of Yisreal Beitenu. Ayalon served as Ambassador to the US from 2002-2006, so he’s conversant in US politics. His strengths are his poise, intelligence, and calm demeanor in talking about his party, which has been hammered by the domestic AND international press. His weakness is also his party, which is likely to have a difficult time breaking out of a 10-18 seat range (currently at 15).