Israeli Coalition and Arafat

There you go again. Your editorial again makes groundless criticisms of the Israeli electoral system.

On Dec. 7 you called proportional representation “bizarre,” despite its use in the majority of democracies (editorial, “Israel’s Straitjacket”). You claimed it causes party proliferation despite evidence to the contrary (e.g. Austria, the Netherlands). You claimed it makes coalitions inevitable, as if coalition government were a bad thing. Now you say it causes “distortions.”

Proportional representation distorts Israeli politics? Huh? If Israel changes the electoral system to one which translates either of the two largest parties’ minority of votes into a majority of seats, that would be distortion, given the intensity of political conflict among Israel’s parties!

Even in Britain, the majority party in Parliament almost never has had a majority of votes in the electorate. For Britain this works because of the lower intensity of conflict.

Israel is divided over issues concerning the very essence of the state and its relations to society and the world. Such a country needs a consensus-making electoral system, such as proportional representation of one form or another.

MATTHEW SHUGART

Laguna Beach