The New Premier-Parliamentary System in Israel

Abstract

Until the 1980s, Israel had a rather stable and quite effective parliamentary system with a powerful executive, headed by a prime minister formally regarded as first among equals but actually enjoying a powerful position in leading the government. In the late 1980s, when the stalemate created by small and medium-sized parties led to a situation of immobilization, the proposal of direct election of the prime minister was adopted, out of many reforms proposed since the establishment of the state. In this article, the causes for the establishment of a premier-parliamentary system and its impact on the stability and effective functioning of the political system are discussed. An alternative model, based on the principles of the German Kanzler system, is proposed.