Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced a novel idea; to extend the term of President Shimon Peres and to amend the law to permit the citizens to elect the next president. The prime minister announced he was contemplating a change in the Basic Law to accommodate such a reality.
According to the Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) report, the prime minister announced he was deciding if he is going to bring such a recommendation to the Knesset for a vote.
President Peres however took the wind out of the prime minister’s sails as he announced he plans to step down at the end of his term, the end of July 2014. The president’s response is not surprising for rarely will he and the prime minister agree on anything. The president told the press he is opposed to extending his term past the seven years he was elected to serve and plans to step down on schedule.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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3 Responses
Countries with weak Heads of State almost never elect them in general elections, either having the parliament choose the president (or having a monarchy). Direct election would make the President a leading political actor since he alone would have a “mandate”, and that won’t work since the Israeli government is otherwise a parliamentary system.
Direct election of the Prime Minister is the way to go.
Bad idea. We don’t need any more clowns in the Israeli political circus.