The underlying problem

Chen Friedberg’s column (“A Weak and Inefficient Knesset,” October 19) totally misses the main and underlying problem that lies with Israel’s legislature.

Friedberg submits suggestions to improve the functioning of the Knesset, ranging from reducing the number of private members’ bills to “strengthening the oversight ability of the Knesset.”

He concludes, “In a democracy, parliaments are supposed to not only pass laws but also engage in oversight; that is, to ensure that legislation is implemented and identify deficiencies in the government’s work.”

I would suggest that in a genuine parliamentary democracy, the members of the parliament should represent and be responsive to the people who elect them. Whether we look at the US, Britain, France, or any other West European democracy, be it structured with proportional or direct representation, the representatives must periodically go back to their constituents to account for their behavior and voting record. Recently, a Democratic Senator from West Virginia voted in favor of installing Brett Kavanaugh on the US Supreme Court because he was more concerned about the wishes of the voters in his home state of West Virginia than the ideology of the leadership of the Democratic Party. Yes, district representation works and despite its flaws, is superior to and more democratic than Israel’s crony party list system where true inefficiency, corruption and most of all, unaccountability, reign supreme.

Parliamentary democracy must be anchored in the concept of a system whose representatives truly represent and are accountable, not to their political party’s bosses but to the people who elect them. SY POLSKY Karnei Shomron