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The Process of Israeli Decision Making: Mechanisms, Forces and Influences By Karim El-Gendy First published in 2010 by: Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations P.O. Box: 14-5034, Beirut, Lebanon Tel: +961 1 803644 Tel-fax: +961 1 803643 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.alzaytouna.net © All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher. For further information regarding permission(s), please write to: [email protected] The views expressed in this book are those of the author alone. They do not necessarily reflect views of al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations THE PROCESS OF ISRAELI DECISION MAKING M E C H A N I S M S, F O R C E S, A N D I N F L U E N C E S By Karim El-Gendy Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies & Consultations, Beirut, Lebanon The Process of Israeli Decision Making __________________________________________________ 3 Table of Contents Table of Contents ………………………………………………………… 3 I. Introduction ……………………………………………………… 6 II. The "Constitutional" Mechanism ……………………………… 13 1. The Knesset: …………………………………………………… 14 1.1. The Knesset’s composition ……………………………………. 14 1.2. The Knesset’s powers and functions …………………………... 16 2. The Cabinet: ………………………………………………….. 17 2.1. The Cabinet’s composition …………………………………... 17 2.2. The Cabinet’s powers and functions ………………………….. 18 3. The relationship between the Cabinet and the Knesset ………... 20 4. The Foreign Ministry Staff …………………………………….. 22 III. Forces and Processes within the Political System …………… 25 1. Coalition politics: …………………………………………… 26 1.1. Proportional representation, coalition politics, and the Cabinet 26 1.2. Coalition Politics and decision making ……………………….. 30 2. Parties, ideologies, and programmes: ……………………….… 32 2.1. Background on social structures and ideologies …………….. 32 2.2. Political ideologies ……………………………………………… 34 2.3. Internal party politics …………………………………………. 45 2.4. Political programs ……………………………………………… 46 3. The role of the Prime Minister and top leadership and the personification of power: ………………………………………… 47 3.1. The role of the Prime Minister ………………………………… 47 3.2. Limitations to the power of the Prime Minister ……………… 48 3.3. Personification of top leadership ……………………………… 49 3.4. Cabinet politicization, improvisation, and decision making … 51 IV. External Influencing Factors …………………………………… 60 1. The influence of the military and security establishment on decision making: …………………………………………………………… 61 1.1. The security concern and the military doctrine: …………….… 61 1.1.1. Operational principles of military doctrine …….………. 62 1.1.2. Psychological principles of military doctrine ………….… 63 1.1.3. Changes to military doctrine …………………………… 65 1.1.4. Changes to the military service ………………………… 66 1.1.5. The security concern and decision-making …………….. 68 Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies & Consultations, Beirut, Lebanon 4 _____________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents 1.2. The status of the military and security establishment within the mm society …………………………………………………………………. 69 1.3. The chain of command and the structure of the military and security establishments: ……………………………………………………….. 70 1.3.1 The military forces ………………………………………. 70 1.3.2 The security forces ………………………………………. 72 1.4. The size of the military and its impact on economy and the society 78 1.5. The development of the Military-Industrial complex ………….. 81 1.6 The Military-Industrial complex’s relation to the political establishment and decision making …………………………………. 84 2. The role of consultants and think tanks and its influence on decision making: …………………………………………………………… 93 2.1. Official consultants ……………………………………………… 93 2.2. Independent consultants and advisors: ……………………….. 94 2.2.1. Advisors and aides ……………………………………… 95 2.2.2. Consultants and think tanks …………………………….. 96 3. The Influence of interest groups on decision making: ….……… 104 3.1. The Influence of the Haredim: …………………………………. 106 3.1.1. Background on the Israeli religious spectrum ………….. 106 3.1.2. Background on the Haredim ……………………………. 108 3.1.3. Power structures of the Haredim ………………………. 110 3.1.4. Influence of the Haredim ………………………………. 113 3.2. The influence of the Religious National Movement and Gush nnnnnn Emunim: ……………………………………………………………… 118 3.2.1. Background on the Datim Le’umim, the National Religious mm Party (Mafdal), Gush Emunim, and the Yesha Council ………. 118 3.2.2. The Dati Le’umi Messianic Ideology …………………… 122 3.2.3. The significance and structure of the Yesha Council …... 126 3.2.4. The influence of the Yesha Council and Gush Emunim: … 128 3.2.4.1 Political influence ………………………………. 131 3.2.4.2 Military influence ……………………………… 132 3.2.4.3 Ideological influence …………………………… 134 3.2.5. Challenges for Gush Emunim …………………………… 135 3.3. The Histadrut labour union ………….…………………………. 137 4. The relationship with the Unites States and its impact on decision making: …………………………………………………………… 138 4.1. Background ……………………………………………………… 138 4.2. Impact on decision making ……………………………………… 144 5. Relationship with Jewish communities outside of Israel and its impact on decision making: ……………………………………………… 150 5.1. The Jewish community’s structure and the Israel lobby ……. 150 5.2. Jewish communities and Israel: The formal mechanism ……. 153 5.3. Jewish communities and Israel: A one way or two way bbbbbbbbbb relationship?: ………………………………………………………… 155 5.3.1. Alternative interpretations: ………………………….. 155 5.3.2. Historical survey of relationship ……………………….. 156 5.3.3. Challenges to Israeli- Diaspora relations ……………… 157 Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies & Consultations, Beirut, Lebanon The Process of Israeli Decision Making __________________________________________________ 5 5.3.4. Israeli positions regarding the Diaspora and its influence on decision making ……………………………………………… 159 V. Decision Making in the Cabinet: A Case Study ……………… 175 VI. Conclusion and the Decision Making Characteristics ……… 180 1. Pragmatism vs. ideology ……………………………………… 181 2. Strengths and Weaknesses: …………………………………… 183 2.1. The mechanism’s weaknesses ……………………………….. 183 2.1.1 The domination of a short-term perspective ..………… 183 2.1.2 The politicization of the decision making mechanism ..… 184 2.1.3 The deterioration of governmental capabilities ……….. 184 2.1.4 The lack of an institutional decision making mechanism .. 185 2.1.5 The dominance of the military-industrial complex ……. 185 2.1.6 The static nature of the political elite …………………. 185 2.1.7 Reliance on past experiences in times of crises: ……….. 186 2.1.8 The limited approach to problems …………………….. 186 2.2 The mechanism’s strengths …………………………………… 186 2.2.1 Common values …………………………………………… 186 2.2.2 Small tightly knit establishment ..……………………... 187 2.2.3 Ease of communication ………………………….……. 187 2.2.4 Rapidity and flexibility ………………………………… 187 2.2.5 Dynamic and pragmatic decision making on national security nn issues ………………………………………………………… 187 2.2.6 The strong political-military relations ………………… 187 2.2.7 Transparency …………………………………………… 187 2.2.8 Responding to a complex environment under stress …… 188 2.2.9 Consultation ……………………………………………. 188 2.2.10 Democracy ……………………………………………. 188 2.2.11 Operational professional excellence ………………….. 188 2.2.12 Motivation and quality people ………………………… 188 VII. Bibliography …………………………………………………… 190 Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies & Consultations, Beirut, Lebanon I. Introduction In Citations, Please Use: El-Gendy, Karim, The Process of Israeli Decision-Making: Mechanisms, Forces and Infl uences (Beirut: Al-Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultations, 2010) The Process of Israeli Decision Making _________________________________________________ 7 I. Introduction Israel has no foreign policy, only domestic policy - Henry Kessinger.1 According to its own declaration of independence, Israel is a Jewish and democratic state, and according to the Israeli Law, it is a parliamentary democracy where its decisions are theoretically made based on regulations that maintain the separation of powers of the various institutions involved in decision making. But in reality, however, the decision making mechanism in Israel is a complicated, highly personified, highly politicized, fluid, and informal process, with no clear overall authority. It is influenced by the motives of the different power centers within the political establishment and by factors and processes relating to the nature of the establishment itself. It is also influenced by the powerful institutions and individuals outside of the formal decision making political establishment, but who directly or indirectly influence it. Israeli decision making is also influenced by Israel’s complicated external environment. The balance between these different domestic and external actors is what eventually determines the policy chosen, and it varies depending on the nature, context, and scope of the issue at hand as well as on the timing of the decision. Following the 1967 and 1973 war a number of academic studies and books have been written on the decision making process in Israel at the times of crisis. These books examined the details of how decisions have been made in some or all of the crises that faced Israeli decision makers in 1948, 1967, and 1973. The prime concern in these studies was the examination of the rationality of the decision making process in making choices in each crisis that take gains and consequences into consideration seems. These studies
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