Anyone who follows the activity of the government and the coalition in the Knesset cannot help but notice a very odd phenomenon: although the coalition is a very narrow one, which only on an unusually good day manages to exercise the theoretical majority it has in the plenum, and even though the Opposition comprises nearly half of the MKs, we have a national unity government.
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I don't make this distinction out of any particular fondness for governments made up of opposing political views (which are usually governments of mutual paralysis), but before our very eyes, a new political configuration is in play. If past unity governments usually rested on two large parties that could have managed on their own, the Bennett-Lapid government is the first unity government that needs every vote, and so it doesn't entail – for now – dramatic attempts by leaders to twist the members' arms.
The first rotation government, in 1984, could have sufficed with the Labor and Likud's 85 seats and had no need for a 97-member coalition, but each side feared that if they forwent their natural political partners, they would be avenged when the next standard government was formed. But the lack of any dependence on the little parties allowed the big ones considerable room to maneuver. The fact that the current government is made up of small and mid-sized parties makes it necessary to take everyone into account, and create solutions with which everyone can live. When you make an effort not to lose friends, solutions can be found.
I'm not arguing that the current parliamentary picture is a desirable one, and I don't suggest that it serve as a precedent. But if the government and the coalition manage to cure some of society's ills and solve issues that have been pushed aside for years to avoid offending political partners (such as the framework for egalitarian prayer at the Western Wall and ties to US Jewry), we could congratulate it for taking advantage of the opportunity that arose.
The cursed default choice
We should also welcome the speed with which the defense and security establishment reversed the bizarre decision to cancel the entry permit of the father of Palestinian youth Mohammed al-Alami, who was mistakenly shot and killed by Israeli forces upon returning home from a picnic with his father and brother.
The boy's killing drew heavy criticism because it supposedly occurred without the car in which the family was riding causing any reasonable suspicion. The revocation of the father, Moayyad's, entry permit made a bad situation worse and caused many people to wonder whether our system behaves in a humane manner. But this affair – the insufferable ease with which innocents are hurt, the automatic revocation of a permit for the victim's father – shed light on something more widespread that must be stopped as soon as possible. A Palestinian who works in Israel cannot have his entry permit taken away as a default measure if a close family member is killed in clashes with us.
It's not unreasonable for people who have lost what matters most could develop a thirst for revenge, but there is a difference between the chance of it happening and a bureaucratic determination that people in this position instantly become ineligible for "security reasons."
It's not the government's job
Religious Affairs Minister Matan Kahana is doing impressive work to bring a new spirit to a system that so idolizes the status quo. The next reform he plans is a national law on conversion. This is a mistake. No democratic country is in charge of religious conversions.
All the government has to do is recognize the religious of anyone who defines himself as a Jew, or any other religion, unless there are grounds to believe that the claim is a lie and intended to exploit that status. Israel recognizes conversions conducted abroad, and it is reasonable for it to recognize similar conversions that take place in Israel. There is no need for any artificial system. This is one reform too many.
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