The Daily Alaska empire. [volume] (Juneau, Alaska) 1926-1964, 1950-10-26
T H ESE D A Y S
THE CRISIS IN ISRAEL
GEORGE K. SOkCL5 X \

The new Israeli government adj
opted the continental European
parliamentary system, which, IL
practice, means that minority
party can be in control Of the
state by combining with other par
ties. When the combination falls
apart, the administration, lacking
majority in parliament tKnesseD
has to give way.
This system in Israel is comDli-
Gated by the use of proportional
representation. In the 1949 gen.
eral election in that country, 81
parties appeared, only II of which
obtained seats. The largest of
these parties, the Labor party
(MapaD, is headed by David Cur
ion, a Socialist, who became Prime
Minister. His party represented IS
per cent of the total vote cast. AS
this was not sufficient, he formed
a bloc with the United Religious
parties ca combination of Orthodox
elements.
This combination was unsound :
The Socialists devote themselves to
a secular way OF life; the Orthodox
Jews pursue the traditional course
of a Theocratic concept of Jewish
life, many thousands of years old.
Their point of union was, of
course, that both groups desired to
make sacrifices to achieve the sue
cess of the project. The Socialists,
led by Ben Gurion, like the Social
lists in Great Britain, based their
program On American aid, while
opposing the American system OF
private enterprise.
In this they succeeded because Of
the enormous contribution to Pal
'estinian activities by American
Jews out of their private resources.
However, doles are not a substitute
for private enterprise and the stu
alton has been complicated by the
unabsorbable immigration of Euro
pean, Asiatic and North African
Jews, for whom adequate won.
could not be made under Socialism.
One Of the difficulties in this
situation is the lack of a constitu
ton, arising out of the impossibility
CT writing one that would satisfy
all the elements in the country
The Orthodox Jews wish to have
a constitutional provision establish
ing the Mosaic law, enforcing the
traditional Sabbath and the Dietary
laws.
This is, in a measure, complicated
by existing law, continuing from
the Turkish possession of the coun-
try and the British mandate. Under
this system, the ecclesiastical auth
critics exercise functions marriage,
divorce, etc. to which European
Jews are not accustomed Particu-
larry these who originated in c5un-
tries which are now behind the
iron curtain. A conflict of diver
gencies occurs here that is inherent
in 2,0O0 years of Jewish history.
A Polish Jew and Yemenite, for in
stance, are centuries apart in de-
velopment.
Edward A. Norman, who is de-
voted to Israel, says:
q. In March 1850, however,
Prime Minister Ben-Gurion de-
clared he had come to the con-
clusion that constitution was not
an essential of democracy In the
United States, he said, the con-
stitution had been an obstruction
to social progress !"
This is a characteristic response
of a continental European Socialist
who does not understand the AM
erican constitutional system and
who cannot believe that we have,
in this country, made greater social
progress, without Socialism, than
any country in Europe has made
with Socialism. Ben-Gurion orig
mated in Poland.
Obviously, the state of Israel
cannot survive merely as refugee
center. It needs and can produce
] an effective economy that could
become the center CT a new life in
| the entire near eastern world. This,
I however, cannot be achieved by de-
pendence upon American charity
/, 1t can be achieved by the free in
vestment of private capital in pri-
vate enterprise. AS long as a Soc
ialist government resists private in
vestment or completes with it on a
large scale, investments wiz go else
where.
The most powerful organization