Comments on National Governance

This paper focuses on the various issues that interfere with the course of public life. The dispute over the future of the “territories” engulfs into it nearly all other issues relating to our public experience, including questions of religion and state, as well as our attitude towards the Arab minority. The IDF has been transformed, from an army of national defense to a police force; part of the settlement enterprise has established settlements in contradiction to government decisions, thereby harming the principles of state authority. The concept of Jewish Nationalism is no longer intensely discussed, and this manifests itself in the mass immigration of non-Jews, in accordance with the Law of Return. Avineri fiercely criticizes political appointments and the primaries system, which has instigated a corruption of the political system. Concurrently, he criticizes the Supreme Court for its interference in government and administrative decisions, thereby – he believes – disrupting government procedures.