Selected articles concerning Israel, published weekly by Suburban Orthodox Toras Chaim’s (Baltimore) Israel Action Committee Edited by Jerry Appelbaum (
[email protected] ) | Founding editor: Sheldon J. Berman Z”L Issue 8 5 9 Volume 20 , Number 3 8 Succos October 3 , 20 20 Why Israel Needs a Better Political Class By Evelyn Gordon mosaicmagazine.com September 29, 2020 Its twin coronavirus and budget crises are problems job finally given to the army, which does have the requisite caused by — and only fixable by — political leaders, not personnel. And the system still isn’t fully operational. bureaucratic maneuvering. None of thisabsolves Netanyahu, who could have Israel’s current political crisis exemplifies the maxim overruled Sadetzki but didn’t because he also opposed that hard cases make bad law. This case is desperate. Six involving the arm y, out of reluctance to share power with months after the coronavirus erupted and nine months his defense minister. It merely shows that letting the after the fiscal year began, Israel still lacks both a “professionals” take charge wouldn’t guarantee a better functioning contact - tracing system and an approved 2020 outcome. budget, mainly because Prime Minister Benjamin Nor is that the only problem. Civil servants are also Netanyahu is more worried about politics than the just as vulnerable as politicians to lett ing extraneous domesti c problems that Israel now confronts. The considerations influence their decisions. Both often abhor government’s failure to perform these basic tasks sharing power. Health Ministry bureaucrats opposed obviously invites the conclusion that civil servants’ far - outsourcing contact tracing to the army for the same reaching powers must not only be preserved, but perhaps reason Netanyahu did: they didn’t want to cede control.