One State: A Joint Government for Israel-Palestine
A One State Solution: The Joint Territories of Israel-Palestine
A model of governance that would promote bipartisan cooperation and self-determination
While the official position of Israel,
Palestine and the international community is that a two state solution is the best
way to resolve the conflict, history shows it has either been unachievable or
the parties are unwilling to find mutually acceptable ways to achieve it.
The alternative is a one state, usually
federal, solution that has won little support so far, as the Jewish community
fears being outnumbered or a dilution of the Jewish nature of their territory, and
the Palestinian community do not want to surrender their long battle for
nationhood. Extremists on both sides
also promote a one state takeover of all the land, with expulsion of the other
community.
This paper proposes an approach to the
one state solution that preserves the autonomy of the two main communities as
far as possible through separate territory governments, while in areas of
nationhood, the three parts of government, legislative, executive and judiciary
would be inherently bipartisan and structured to ensure consensus decision
making.
The aim is to replace the current
military and sometimes violent sectarian conflict with a political system for
sustained conflict resolution and negotiation in a bipartisan joint government
structured to promote cooperation and pursuing shared interests and mutual
benefits.
While most democracies have a
governing party or coalition and an opposition, this adversarial majority-rules governance is counter-productive in the
context of forming a joint government between Israel and Palestine.
There are three unique features of
this model compared to the many other federation and one state models that
exist:
1.
replacing the
offices of President and Prime Minister with a Swiss-style pluralistic 7-person Executive Council thus avoiding the difficult
issue of balancing the ethnicity of the Heads of State and Government;
2.
separation of the
two main communities’ elected representatives into two chambers of a Joint Assembly, giving both communities the same
power to accept or reject legislation, and rather than hindering understanding
between Jews and Palestinians, provide a forum for structured meaningful
dialogue for which the elected representatives would be wholly accountable at
the ballot box;
3.
the inter-linking of the territory assemblies
and the Joint Assembly through common
membership by representatives elected uniformly across all territories,
thus promoting a unity of purpose and neutralizing the risk of conflicts
between territories and the Joint Government.
Joint Territories
of Israel - Palestine
Constituent territories would be based
on the 1967 borders as follows:
- the Territory of Israel, a homeland for the
Jewish people, with West Jerusalem ceded to a newly created Capital Territory;
- the Palestinian Territory of West
Bank, or aḍ-Ḍiffah l-Ġarbiyyah, a homeland for the Palestinian people, with
East Jerusalem ceded to the Capital Territory;
- the shared Capital Territory of
Jerusalem, which would be home to the Knesset, the Palestinian Legislative
Council, as well as newly created Capital Territory and Joint Assemblies, under
the jurisdiction of both peoples through a bipartisan Joint Government;
- the Special Palestinian Territory of
Gaza could be included as a constituent territory after a period of economic
development, disarmament and willingness to accept Israel as a Jewish homeland.
Under international law Golan could no
longer be included as part of the Territory of Israel; however, as an
interim measure Golan
would become a Joint Government
administered district until a sustained peaceful solution with Syria and
Lebanon is found.
The territories would maintain
sovereignty over their internal borders and could negotiate internal land swaps
if mutually agreeable. However, only the
Joint Government would have the power to negotiate land swaps with Egypt,
Jordan, Lebanon or Syria but such swaps would be subject to the approval of the
relevant Territory government.
Citizenship
All current Israeli citizens, long term residents
of Israel and the West Bank, and Palestinian refugees residing in
the West Bank would automatically become ‘founding’ citizens of Israel -
Palestine. Future rights to citizenship for Gazan Palestinians
and new immigrants would be granted as set out below. All citizens would have access to Israel-Palestine
passports, but could self identify as Israeli or Palestinian according to
preference, much as citizens of the UK variously identify as English, Scottish,
Welsh or Irish. In this proposal, the
term Palestinian will be taken to include Arab Israelis, Druze and Bedouins.
Population of Israel
- Palestine
The estimated populations of the proposed territories of Israel –
Palestine in 2020 are in table 1 below.
JEWISH
(%)
|
PALESTINIAN (%)
|
TOTAL
|
|||
ISRAEL
|
5,688,400
|
(74.9)
|
1,900,200
|
(25.1)
|
7,588,600
|
PALESTINIAN
WEST BANK
|
427,200
|
(13.4)
|
2,755,200
|
(86.6)
|
3,182,400
|
JERUSALEM
|
555,800
|
(60.6)
|
363,600
|
(39.4)
|
919,400
|
ISRAEL – PALESTINE
|
6,671,400
|
(56.9)
|
5,019,000
|
(43.1)
|
11,690,400
|
GOLAN
|
23,600
|
(46.7)
|
27,000
|
(53.3)
|
|
GAZA
PALESTINE
|
0
|
0
|
2,048,000
|
(100)
|
2,048,000
|
EXPANDED
ISRAEL-PALESTINE
|
6,695,000
|
(48.6)
|
7,094,000
|
(51.4)
|
13,789,000
|
The population estimates are based on latest
official estimates as at 31 December 2018 from the Central Bureau
of Statistics of Israel and
2020 projection from the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics released on 6 March 2020 as found at https://www.citypopulation.de/Asia.html on 8 June 2020.
Division of
Power between the Territory and Joint Governments
As far as possible, the functions of Government would remain mostly in
the domain of the territories, but certain powers would need to be ceded to the
Joint Government as shown in table 2.
Table 2: areas of responsibility
for Territory governments and the Joint Government
Territory
Governments
|
Joint
Government
|
Health,
Sport and Recreation
|
Defense
|
Education
and Research
|
Internal
Security and Justice
|
Social
Services, Child Care
|
Foreign
Affairs and Trade
|
Environment,
Water, Antiquities and Tourism
|
Immigration
and Citizenship
|
Planning,
Housing, Local Government
|
Taxation and
Economic policy
|
Territory
Law and Justice, Prisons
|
League Law
(Attorney General)
|
Employment, Local
Transport, Road and Rail
|
Air transport,
Ports, Communication
|
Electoral
Reform and Elected Representatives
The semi-defunct electoral system of Palestinians and the recent evidence
of a political impasse in the Israeli Knesset may be both a cause and a symptom
of failure in the protracted search for a resolution to the conflict. Aligning, reforming and revitalizing the
electoral systems would be essential.
An all-territories election would be held every four years to choose
parliamentary representatives, who would be
elected by proportional representation with one representative per 32,500 voters,
to ensure all votes are of equal value. Compulsory
voting by all adult citizens over the age of 18 would ensure equality of
representation across the territories. Nineteen multi-member electoral districts would be created so
that elected representatives would be more directly accountable at a local
level to the voters in their respective districts (annex 2), with the electorates
based on
existing Israeli sub-districts and Palestinian governorates. The threshold for election would be a minimum 5.88% of
votes cast by the single transferrable vote method of proportional
representation, higher than the threshold for election used currently in the
Israeli election system.
Elected representatives would have dual responsibilities. They would represent their electorates in
their respective territory assemblies and represent their community according
to their preference in the Joint Assembly.
Territory Assemblies
The three constituent territories would each have its own unicameral
assembly, all located in Jerusalem. Based on the current populations and estimated
number of voters, the Israeli Knesset would have 160 representatives, the West
Bank Legislative Council 55, and a new assembly in Jerusalem 17, for a total of
232 elected representatives. Although
Jewish citizens make up 56% of the population, they would make 64% of voters,
as a higher proportion of the Jewish population is aged 18 or over.
Territory
Executives
In the Israeli and West Bank territory
assemblies, the party or parties that could form a simple majority would form
the territory government. The leader of
the Government would be the Chief Minister and appoint a Territory Cabinet with
ministerial portfolios as per table 2 above.
In the Capital Territory, an Administrator
would be appointed by the Joint Government who along with appointed assistant
administrators would fulfil the executive functions of government for the Capital. The Capital Territory assembly would have the
power to sack the appointed administration and accept or reject local laws and
measures proposed by the Administration.
This arrangement aims to ensure Jerusalem functions as a bipartisan
national capital, with government accountable to both Palestinians and
Israelis, a unifying influence, while ensuring local voters’ concerns are not
disenfranchised.
The Joint Assembly
The Joint Assembly would be bicameral,
with a Hebrew Chamber and an Arabic Chamber.
The role of the Hebrew Chamber would be to promote and protect Jewish
aspirations, and the Arabic Chamber those of the Palestinians and Arab
Israelis. Legislation proposed by the Joint Executive Council (see below) would
need the assent of both chambers to be passed. Thus, neither community
could impose its will on the other. Each chamber would have a Speaker who could act as
spokesperson for their community’s interests, and have parliamentary committees
to study, review, scrutinize and propose amendments to Executive Council
legislation.
Candidates for
election would nominate for either the Hebrew or Arabic chamber of the Joint
Assembly. For example, in the Beersheba
electorate all successful candidates, whether Jewish, Arabs or Bedouin, would
sit in the Knesset but if voters voted according to ethnicity, ten would be
elected to the Hebrew Chamber and four to the Arabic chamber in the Joint
Assembly. The estimated number of
representatives nationally in each chamber would be 149 and 83 respectively,
assuming voters choose candidates of their own community. However, while mainstream voting would be
expected to largely follow such a pattern, smaller minorities such as Druze,
Bedouin and Arab Christians may be more variable in choosing which chamber would
be best for their interests.
While
segregating the legislature along ethnic lines may seem at first distasteful,
even racist, and run counter to building unity, the advantages of this division
are:
·
a stronger voice for Israeli Arabs and West Bank Jewish elected
representatives who would be in a minority in their respective territory
assemblies;
·
it reflects the purpose of the Joint Assembly, to structure dialogue
between the divided population groups, and ensures the majority view of each
community is clearly and democratically expressed with accountability to voters
– in some sense, the representatives in the two chambers would be negotiators
and advocates for their communities as challenges arise, but represent much
more broadly the political spectrum within each community, rather than the
current narrower negotiation (or lack thereof) by two governments dominated by
one political stream of thought;
·
most importantly, it removes the fears of both communities of being
outnumbered either now or in the future, as numerical strength does not affect
the power of each chamber to accept or reject legislation;
·
conversely, a single chamber with for example 149 Jewish and 83
Palestinian members would mean the latter can always be outvoted, or on
occasion a minority view within either community could prevail if the other
community could be persuaded to support the minority view.
The Joint Executive Council
There would be no president or prime
minister of Israel-Palestine; executive functions of government would be shared
equally by the seven members of the Joint Executive Council, elected
representatives appointed by a joint sitting of both houses of the Joint
Assembly for a term of four years. The
Council would provide collective leadership in areas of government functions that cannot be retained by the territories.
For example, a suggested model for the essential functional roles of the Executive Councilors could be the
following:
1. First Councilor, Presiding Officer of the Council, and Councilor for Jerusalem and
Golan Admin.
2. Councilor for Population
and Migration
3. Councilor for Defense
4.
Foreign Affairs and Trade Councilor
5. Councilor for Home Affairs, Internal Security,
and Gaza Special Territory
6. Councilor for the Economy, Transport, and Communications
7. Attorney General and Councilor for Protection
of Minorities
The Presiding Officer’s role would be to chair Executive
Council meetings and conduct ceremonial and diplomatic Head of State
functions. The presiding officer would not
have presidential powers, such as allocation of Executive Council portfolios,
which would instead be chosen by consensus or by voting within the council. A system of rotation of the position every
one or two years based on seniority or by voting would promote a bipartisan and
pluralist fulfilment of the position.
If voting for the Joint Executive
Council were by proportional representation of a joint sitting of both houses
and voting was along purely communal lines,
then the number of Jewish Executive Councilors elected would be four or five,
and two or three would be Palestinians.
Furthermore, the Executive Council would reflect the full spectrum of
the parties elected according to their voting strength in the Joint Assembly,
so would always need consensus decision making as no single bloc would ever
achieve a majority. As well as ensuring
both communities are represented, so too would the left and right wings of
party politics, secular and religious, etc.
To function effectively and achieve outcomes, the Executive Councilors
would need to take a bipartisan approach, find shared interests and work cooperatively, as the veto
power of the assembly would side-line partisan proposals. Executive Councilors would no longer vote in
legislative divisions, in order to promote Council unity and solidarity and
avoid schisms within the executive, and no longer sit in their respective territory
assemblies.
The Chief Ministers of Israel and the
West Bank would automatically be non-voting members of the Joint Executive
Council but without ministerial portfolio responsibilities.
This model is a unique solution to a
central problem with most other one state models, where the issue of choosing a
Prime Minister or President raises questions of whether Jewish Israelis are
willing to accept an Arab Prime Minister and vice versa for the Palestinians.
The existing legal frameworks would
continue at territory level. There would
be two Supreme Courts, one for
Israeli legal matters and the other for Palestinian matters. Israeli law would
continue to apply in the Territory of Israel, and likewise Palestinian laws would apply in the
Territory of West Bank. A new High
Court of Israel – Palestine would be established to adjudicate on matters involving the Joint
Government and inter-territory disputes. In the Capital Territory
of Jerusalem, initially Israeli laws would apply during a transition to an
Israel - Palestine legal system, but the lower courts in the Capital territory
would be directly under the jurisdiction of the High Court. Seven High Court judges would be nominated by the Executive Council and confirmed by both
chambers of the Joint Assembly. At least
three places should be reserved for Jewish judges, and three for Palestinian judges.
Inclusion
of Gaza into the Joint Government
While the Gaza strip is in a sense an
independent city territory already, the poverty, the collapsing infrastructure,
militancy and the capacity to destabilize Israel-Palestine would need to be
addressed as a key element to the Joint Territory’s foundation. Integration
of the Gaza Special Territory into the economy of Israel-Palestine should begin
as early as possible, through privileged access to work visas, and favorable
customs and trade arrangements.
Residents of Gaza would elect their
own Legislative Council located in Gaza City which would be autonomous, buts
its members would not be eligible to sit in the Joint Assembly. The IDF would continue to have control over its
borders. Gazan Palestinians would be
able to apply to travel and work within Israel-Palestine subject to security
assessments, but residential rights would be at the discretion of the Territory
Governments. Gazans would be able to
apply for Israel-Palestine passports to allow international travel. Gazan Palestinians would have access to the
High Court system for matters concerning the exercise of these privileges and rights.
Gaza could join as a constituent territory
of Israel-Palestine, with its Legislative Council relocated to Jerusalem, and sending
33 elected representatives to the Joint Assembly, who would automatically be eligible
to stand for the Joint Executive Council.
The following conditions would need to be met:
·
demonstrated disarmament
with independent checks carried out by security forces;
·
recognition by
the Gaza Special Territory government of Israel as the Jewish people’s homeland;
·
demonstration of the
ability to hold free and fair elections.
Expansion of Israel-Palestine to
include Gaza Special Territory would increase the numbers of elected
representatives in the Arabic Chamber and influence the composition of the Joint
Executive Council, but the veto power of the Hebrew Chamber would be unchanged,
and the balance of power in the territory assemblies of Israel, Jerusalem and
West Bank completely unaltered (see table 4).
Interestingly, even though in this expanded Israel-Palestine the
Palestinian population is in a majority, based on estimates of voter numbers,
the Jewish community would form a slightly larger electorate, as the
Palestinian population includes a higher proportion of citizens below voting
age. In this scenario, the Executive
Council would be likely to consist of four Jewish and three Palestinian
councilors each.
Inclusion
of Golan
Under international law Golan could no
longer be included as part of the Territory of Israel; however, as an
interim measure Golan
would become a Joint Government
administered district until a sustained peaceful solution with Syria and
Lebanon is found. Until its status is resolved,
Golan voters would elect two representatives to sit in the Joint Assembly, with
Golan split into two single member electorates, one in North Golan / Mt Hermon
the other in South Golan. The former
would likely return a Druze elected representative, the latter a Jewish
representative. Golan would be
administered directly by the Joint Government.
Its final status could be determined by a plebiscite after a
fixed period of at least 10 years of peace.
Table 4: population and elected
representatives by territory and community (estimated)
Security
Because of the paramount importance of
security in Israel-Palestine, a Joint Security and Emergency Council would be
mandated with special powers and arrangements to empower the Chief Ministers
when there is a specific threat to their respective territories. Members of the Council
would include in addition to the Chief Ministers, the First Councilor, the Councilors for Defense, Internal Security and Foreign
Affairs. Chief Ministers would have the
power to veto decisions affecting their particular territory.
Recognizing the current existential
threat to Israel from terror groups and hostile states, responsibility for
defense of Israel-Palestine would remain with the IDF and Palestinian National
Security Force, under the command of the Joint Executive Council. When the situation becomes safer, an integrated Joint Defense Force would be developed.
Israeli and Palestinian police forces
would continue to function separately within their respective territories. A bipartisan Joint Police would be
responsible for security and policing in the Capital Territory, the Golan and
important designated holy sites anywhere.
Equal Rights to Free Movement, Employment and Residence
All citizens at the time of foundation
of Israel-Palestine would have the
right to freedom of movement and employment throughout the territories, as well
as the right to take residence anywhere. However, new housing would be subject to territory
approval. Thus, existing Jewish
settlements could remain, and West Bank Palestinian refugees’ rights to live in
Israel would be guaranteed. New citizens
would have the right to movement and employment, but free residential rights
would require a period of ten years citizenship to qualify.
Population and Migration
The right of return of Palestinian
refugees and the Law of Return for overseas Jewish populations would be broadly maintained, subject to negotiations of annual quotas between the Joint Government
and the territories. In principle, arrival of returning Palestinian refugees and
Jewish immigration would be done with a target
of maintaining the current demographic status quo.
Protection of
Minority Communities
Local government areas containing Jewish
communities in the West Bank and Palestinian communities in Israel would be able to apply for minority status, on the
basis of security or significant
cultural concerns.
Applications would be made
by local government authorities to the Joint Government, and providing consent is provided by the relevant territory, be accepted. If the territory
government withholds consent, adjudication would be by the High Court.
Local governments afforded minority status would have the
right to request civil protection. Individual citizens would not be able to apply
for minority status in this sense.
The Israeli Shekel would be rebranded as the Israel-Palestine Shekel, one
side of notes and coins in Hebrew the other in Arabic.
Language
Hebrew and Arabic would be the official languages of all territories, and
laws would be required to be made in both.
Conclusion
If this model is implemented:
·
Israel would be recognized by the
Palestinians and Arab world as a Jewish Homeland.
·
Palestinians gain self-government and
citizenship, and their democracy would be revitalized.
·
Jerusalem would be the undivided capital of
both Israel and Palestine, jointly managed.
·
West Bank Jewish settlements could remain,
and Palestinian refugees could live in Israel, subject to controls.
·
Gaza embargo relieved, and the path to
citizenship becomes clear.
·
Golan’s status will be resolved, contingent
on a peace process with neighboring countries.
·
The Joint Government would be inherently
bipartisan, while the Israeli Government would continue to reflect the will of
the Jewish majority, and the Palestinian assembly or assemblies would reflect
the will of the Palestinian people.
-
Annex 1: Schematic representation
of the interlinked assemblies of Israel-Palestine
Annex 2: Example of possible multi-member
electoral districts.
The table is for illustrative purposes only of how the electoral system
might operate. The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics provides age data
according to three categories of Population Groups: Jews, Arabs including Arab
Christians and Druze, and Others defines as Non-Arab Christians,
members of other religions, and those not classified by religion in the
Population Register. Most of the
‘Others’ are non-Jewish family members of Jewish immigrants to Israel, and
therefore included for this electoral example with the Jewish population
group. The overall number of voters is
likely overestimated, as data on non-citizens is not readily available, so some
non-citizens without eligibility to vote may be included in these data.
Estimated number of voters (000)
|
# to be elected
|
est. Jewish /
Others
|
est. Arabs
|
threshold
%
|
||
1. Hebron
|
411.9
|
13
|
1
|
12
|
7.69
|
|
2. Jerusalem
Hills / Jericho
|
331.6
|
10
|
2
|
8
|
10.00
|
|
3. Ramallah
/ Salfit
|
362.4
|
11
|
3
|
8
|
9.09
|
|
4. Nablus / Tubas
|
282.8
|
9
|
0
|
9
|
11.11
|
|
5. Northern
West Bank
|
397.5
|
12
|
0
|
12
|
8.33
|
|
West Bank LC TOTAL
|
|
55
|
6
|
49
|
|
|
6. Jerusalem City
|
544.0
|
17
|
12
|
5
|
5.88
|
|
Capital Assembly TOTAL
|
|
17
|
12
|
5
|
|
|
7. Northern
Israel
|
505.3
|
16
|
9
|
7
|
6.25
|
|
8. Akko Sub
District (S.D.)
|
435.4
|
13
|
5
|
8
|
7.69
|
|
9. Haifa
S.D.
|
439.8
|
14
|
12
|
2
|
7.14
|
|
10. Hadera
S.D.
|
297.2
|
9
|
5
|
4
|
11.11
|
|
11. Sharon
S.D.
|
328.6
|
10
|
8
|
2
|
10.00
|
|
12. Petah
Tiqwa S.D.
|
514.1
|
16
|
15
|
1
|
6.25
|
|
13. Ramla
Bet Shemesh
|
363.7
|
11
|
10
|
1
|
9.09
|
|
14. Rehovot
S.D.
|
433.7
|
13
|
13
|
0
|
7.69
|
|
15. Tel Aviv
Region**
|
436.2
|
13
|
13
|
0
|
7.69
|
|
16. Ramat
Gan Region
|
363.5
|
11
|
11
|
0
|
9.09
|
|
17. Holon
Region
|
246.8
|
8
|
8
|
0
|
12.50
|
|
18. Ashqelon
S.D.
|
379.4
|
12
|
12
|
0
|
8.33
|
|
19. Beersheva
S.D.
|
462.7
|
14
|
10
|
4
|
7.14
|
|
Israel Knesset TOTAL
|
|
160
|
131
|
29
|
|
|
Joint Assembly TOTAL
|
|
232
|
149 Hebrew
|
83 Arabic
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jerusalem Hills / Jericho:
|
Bethlehem, Al-Quds (excluding East Jerusalem) and Jericho
governorates
|
|||||
Northern West Bank:
|
Jenin, Qalqilyah and Tulkarm governorates
|
|||||
Northern Israel:
|
Zefat, Kinneret, and Yizreel sub-districts
|
|||||
Ramla Bet Shemesh
|
Ramla sub-district and Jerusalem district excluding City of
Jerusalem
|
|||||
|
|
** region refers to natural region as defined by Israel’s CBS
|
|||||
Annex 3: Mock Election
for the Joint Executive Council (JEC) and Territory Executive Cabinets
The following material is an example of how a future
Israel-Palestine election could play out.
Fictitious party names are simply for illustrative purposes. The mock election starts at the joint sitting
of both chambers of the Joint Assembly after the general election results are
final. Successful parties in the all-territories
general election are as follows:
·
Social Democratic Party, the only party to field
both Hebrew and Arabic candidates
·
Torah Shas Party, whose base is mostly
conservative religious Jews
·
New Likud Party, a conservative secular party favored
by business sector
·
Jewish Left Party, favored by Russian Jewish
immigrants, progressives, academics and young voters
·
Al’Aqsa Party, whose base is a mix of nationalist
and socially conservative Moslems
·
New
Fatah Party, a broad based centrist party, the successor to the
Palestinian National Authority
·
Minor parties: Bedouin Party, Druze Party,
Settlers Party
Joint Assembly voting for Executive Council
The single transferable vote method of proportional representation
could be used, as in the general election.
Quota for
election to the executive council would be 29 votes – calculated by number of
votes divided by the <number of quotas to be filled plus 1> = 232 / (7 +
1) is 29
Votes are
allocated to the top candidate of each party in each round until all quotas are
filled. When 29 votes are reached by a
candidate, those 29 votes are ‘expended’ but ‘surplus’ votes may be transferred
in the next round, until all seven positions are filled. Different counting systems can be used,
including calculating mathematical fractions based on a ballot indicating preferences. In this example, simpler to understand iterative
rounds are used.
Joint Sitting of both chambers
First round:
·
The Social Democratic party is the biggest
party, with 55 elected to the Hebrew Chamber and 17 to the Arabic chamber:
combined vote at joint sitting is 72 – enough to attain two quotas (58
votes). Twelve Hebrew representatives
vote for their Arabic colleague to ensure she gains a quota. Thus two social democrats are elected to the
JEC, Rachel Leberstein from Tel Aviv and Hanan Samaan from Ramallah.
·
Torah Shas has 43 seats, enough to elect one
councilor, Simeon Meir from Jerusalem.
·
New Fatah has 44 seats, enough to elect one
councilor, Mahommad Mansour from Nablus.
Second round. As no other party has a quota, a second round
of voting for the three remaining positions is held. The three small parties do not propose
candidates, but all the other parties do.
The Druze and Bedouin Parties vote for the second New Fatah candidate,
while the Settler Party backs the second Torah Shas candidate. No party reaches a quota.
Round 3. The New Fatah’s next candidate is eliminated
and the party transfers its 11 votes to the Al’Aqsa Party candidate, thus
reaching a quota for Jalaa Suleiman from Hebron.
Round 4. The next Al’Aqsa candidate is eliminated,
with 7 of its remaining votes going to the Social Democrat candidate but in a
surprise move, one vote goes to the New Likud candidate, Yuditha Cohen from
Haifa thus giving her a quota.
Round 5. Torah Shas candidate is eliminated, and 12 of
its remaining 18 votes transfer to the Jewish Left party candidate, Boris
Trotskiev, from Rishon LeZiyyon who thus gains the final place on the Council.
ASSEMBLY
|
Hebrew
Representatives
|
Arabic
Representatives
|
|||||||||
Soc. Dem.
|
Torah Shas
|
New Likud
|
Jew Left
|
Settler
|
Soc. Dem.
|
Al’Aqsa Party
|
New Fatah
|
Bed-ouin
|
Druze
|
Total
|
|
Election
night results
|
|||||||||||
Knesset
|
52
|
33
|
26
|
18
|
2
|
9
|
10
|
6
|
2
|
2
|
160
|
Jerusalem
|
3
|
6
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
17
|
|||
WBLC
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
6
|
15
|
28
|
55
|
||||
Joint
|
55
|
42
|
28
|
20
|
4
|
17
|
26
|
36
|
2
|
2
|
232
|
Joint
sitting to elect Executive Council
|
|||||||||||
transfers
|
-12
|
+12
|
|||||||||
round 1
|
43
|
42
|
28
|
20
|
4
|
29
|
26
|
36
|
2
|
2
|
|
4 quotas
|
(29)
|
(29)
|
(29)
|
(29)
|
|||||||
balance
|
14
|
13
|
28
|
20
|
4
|
26
|
7
|
2
|
2
|
||
transfers
|
4
|
4
|
|||||||||
round 2
|
14
|
17
|
28
|
20
|
26
|
11
|
|||||
transfers
|
11
|
||||||||||
round 3
|
14
|
17
|
28
|
20
|
37
|
||||||
1 quota
|
(29)
|
||||||||||
balance
|
14
|
17
|
28
|
20
|
8
|
||||||
transfers
|
7
|
1
|
|||||||||
round 4
|
21
|
17
|
29
|
20
|
|||||||
1 quota
|
(29)
|
||||||||||
balance
|
21
|
17
|
0
|
20
|
|||||||
transfers
|
2
|
15
|
|||||||||
round 5
|
23
|
35
|
|||||||||
1 quota
|
(29)
|
||||||||||
Joint Executive Council composition is therefore:
Two Social
Democrats (one Hebrew, one Arabic), one Torah Shas, one Al’Aqsa, one New Fatah,
one New Likud and one Jewish Left. Rachel
Leberstein is elected unopposed as Presiding Officer. Using her considerable negotiating skills, all
portfolios are assigned without a vote, as follows:
1.
Rachel Leberstein, Presiding Officer, and
Councilor for Jerusalem and Golan Administration
2.
Hanan Samaan, Councilor for Defense
3.
Boris Trotskiev, Population and Migration
4.
Mahommad Mansour, Foreign Affairs and Trade
5. Yuditha
Cohen, Councilor for the Economy,
Transport, and Communications
6. Simeon
Meir, Councilor for Home Affairs, Internal
Security, and Gaza Special Territory
7.
Jalaa Suleiman, Attorney
General and Councilor for Protection of Minorities
As Executive
Councilors no longer participate in parliamentary divisions, the status of the Joint
Assembly would become:
·
Hebrew Chamber:
Social Democrats - 54, Torah Shas - 41, New Likud - 27, Jewish Left - 19,
and Settlers – 4
·
Arabic Chamber:
New Fatah – 35, Al’Aqsa – 25, Social Democrats - 16, Bedouin – 2, and Druze – 2
·
One can see that the mix of political parties
would not necessarily split along communal lines, and that alliances between
Arabic and Hebrew members are very likely on certain issues.
Territory Assemblies confirm Chief Minister
Once the Joint Executive Council membership has been
decided, all remaining 225 elected representatives then split into their
respective territory assemblies to formally endorse their Chief Ministers and governments.
Israel: in the Knesset, 79 seats
required to form a majority, (157 elected representatives remain, excluding the
three Israeli based Executive Councilors)
·
the Social Democrats and the Jewish Left parties
with 58 and 17 remaining elected representatives respectively form a coalition;
New Fatah and the Bedouin and Druze parties all pledge their support, without
joining the coalition.
·
the Social Democrat party leader becomes Chief
Minister and appoints her Cabinet Ministers
West Bank: in the Legislative Council 27
seats required to form a majority (52 seats excluding 3 West Bank based Executive
Councilors)
·
New Fatah has a clean sweep with 27 out of 52
seats, and the party leader becomes Chief Minister and appoints his Cabinet
Ministers
Jerusalem: The
Joint Executive Council proposes a General Secretary who coordinates the
various territory departments such as health, education, territory public transport,
and so on. Chief Administrator and
assistant administrators based on technical rather than political
considerations, to run the Capital Territory’s health, education, transport,
social welfare systems. The elected
representatives formulate policy and regulations to manager no majority
required to form government, as territory administration will be appointed by Joint
Government.
The Chief Ministers of Israel and the West Bank attend JEC
meetings as non-voting members of the Joint Executive Council.
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