Archived Update: 2 April 2006

The election is over, the votes have been tallied, and our democracy is in no better shape than it was before. A coalition will be formed - again, government portfolios (the public service offices we pay for) will be parceled as political favors - again, legislators will be more concerned about party power than about serving the public - again. In the face of a Hamas government, our nation is stricken with divisions and questionable leadership. Our calling has never been more important than it is now.

While the political analysis of any single election is far from scientific, it is clear that the ascent of some of the smaller parties marked a shrinking confidence in the dominant factions. In the end, Kadima garnered far fewer than the 42 mandates it predicted not even a month ago, Labor underperformed its predictions, and Likud was soundly thrashed.

The parties that presented clear proposals for electoral/government reform didn't reach the threshold percentage, with the exception of Yisrael Beiteinu. For us, this should be neither a surprise nor a cause for discouragement. We have maintained all along that until there is a popular movement for specific reform proposals, we will not see movement from "above." Ours is a bottom-up initiative and we are moving along, building our base, business as usual.

During the campaign, there were some articles and letters dealing with reform. Kudos to Barbara Schipper for her excellent letter in the Jerusalem Post (Friday, 24.03.2006 Magazine section) describing the frustration of many Israelis who understand that voting in Israel is not a true or effective process of representation.