BEN-GURION AGAINST THE KNESSET (Cass Series--Israeli History, Politics, and Society)

347 Pages·2003·1.64 MB·English

by  Giora Goldberg

BEN-GURION AGAINST THE KNESSET
CASS SERIES: ISRAELI HISTORY, POLITICS
AND SOCIETY
Series Editor: Efraim Karsh
ISSN: 1368–4795

This series provides a multidisciplinary examination of all aspects of Israeli
history, politics and society, and serves as a means of communication between
the various communities interested in Israel: academics, policy-makers,
practitioners, journalists and the informed public.
1. Peace in the Middle East: The Challenge for Israel, edited by Efraim Karsh.
2. The Shaping of Israeli Identity: Myth, Memory and Trauma, edited by Robert
Wistrich and David Ohana.
3. Between War and Peace: Dilemmas of Israeli Security, edited by Efraim Karsh.
4. U.S.-Israeli Relations at the Crossroads, edited by Gabriel Sheffer.
5. Revisiting the Yom Kippur War, edited by P.R.Kumaraswamy.
6. Israel: The Dynamics of Change and Continuity, edited by David Levi-Faur,
Gabriel Sheffer and David Vogel.
7. In Search of Identity: Jewish Aspects in Israeli Culture, edited by Dan Urian and
Efraim Karsh.
8. Israel at the Polls, 1996, edited by Daniel J.Elazar and Shmuel Sandler.
9. From Rabin to Netanyahu: Israel’s Troubled Agenda, edited. by Efraim Karsh.
10. Fabricating Israeli History: The ‘New Historians’, second revised edition, by
Efraim Karsh.
11. Divided Against Zion: Anti-Zionist Opposition in Britain to a Jewish State in
Palestine, 1945–1948, by Rory Miller.
12. Peacemaking in a Divided Society: Israel After Rabin, edited by Sasson Sofer.
13. Israeli-Egyptian Relations: 1980–2000, by Ephraim Dowek.
14. Global Politics: Essays in Honour of David Vital, edited by Abraham Ben-Zvi
and Aharon Klieman.
15. Parties, Elections and Cleavages; Israel in Comparative and Theoretical Perspective,
edited by Reuven Y.Hazan and Moshe Maor.
16. Israel and the Polls 1999, edited by Daniel J.Elazar and M.Ben Mollov.
17. Public Policy in Israel, edited by David Nachmias and Gila Menahem.
iii
Israel: The First Hundred Years (Mini Series), edited by Efraim Karsh.
1. Israel’s Transition from Community to State, edited by Efraim Karsh.
2. From War to Peace? edited by Efraim Karsh.
3. Politics and Society Since 1948, edited by Efraim Karsh.
4. Israel in the International Arena, edited by Efraim Karsh.
5. Israel in the Next Century, edited by Efraim Karsh.
Ben-Gurion against the
Knesset
GIORA GOLDBERG
Bar-Ilan University
Translator
CHAYA NAOR
FRANK CASS
LONDON (cid:127) PORTLAND, OR
First published in 2003 in Great Britain by
FRANK CASS PUBLISHERS
Crown House, 47 Chase Side, Southgate
London N14 5BP
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
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Website: www.frankcass.com
Copyright © 2003 Giora Goldberg
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Goldberg, Giora
Ben-Gurion against the Knesset.—(Cass series. Israeli
history, politics and society; 32)
1. Ben-Gurion, David, 1886–1973 2. Israel. Knesset 3. Israel—
Politics and government–1948–1967
I. Title
956.9′4052′092
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Goldberg, Giora, 1948–
Ben-Gurion against the Knesset/Giora Goldberg.
p. cm.—(Cass series—Israeli history, politics, and society)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7146-5556-2 (Print Edition)(cloth)
1. Israel—Politics and government—1948–1967. 2. Israel. Knesset—
History—20th century. 3. Legislative power—Israel—History—20th
century. 4. Ben-Gurion, David, 1886–1973. 5. Representative government
and representation—Israel—History—20th century. 6. Ministerial
responsibility. I. Title. II. Series.
JQ1830.A792O64 2003
328.5694′09′045–dc21 2003051463
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or
introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
written permission of the publisher of this book.
ISBN 0-203-01740-4 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-7146-5556-2 (cloth)
ISSN 1368-4795
vi
Contents
Foreword: The Theory of the Status of
Legislatures 1
Part One The Establishment of Parliamentary Institutions
1. From the People’s Council to the First
Knesset 19
2. Parliamentary Committees 59
Part Two The Struggle Against the Knesset’s Institutional
Power
3. Dissolving the Knesset 97
4. Investigation of the Government by the
Knesset 111
5. Symbolic Competition 137
Part Three The Struggle Against the Knesset Members
6. The Immunity of Knesset Members 169
7. Collective Responsibility and Coalition
Discipline 193
8. Intra-Party Politics and Nominations 205
Part Four Parliamentary Style and Conflicts with Political
Rivals
9. Attacks on the Knesset and Knesset
Members 243
10. Attacks on the Political Opposition and the
Parties 285
viii
Conclusion 309
Bibliography 323
Index 327
Foreword: The Theory of the Status of
Legislatures
Any attempt to ascertain the status of legislatures with the help of
models of regimes suffers from fundamental flaws. One criterion for
classifying such models is the independence of the executive arm. In the
assembly model, for instance, there is no real separation between the
executive and the legislature. The government is merely a
parliamentary committee whose task is to implement the resolutions
adopted by the legislature. The supremacy of the legislature is reflected
in the fact that all government ministers are members of parliament, so
that the government derives its authority from the legislature and is
not, in itself, an autonomous legal entity This assembly model,
however, is an ideal type which is almost non-existent in practice.
The opposite type of administration is represented by
the presidential model, in which there is a distinct separation between
the executive and the legislature. Here the president, elected directly by
the people, is not subject to the authority of the legislative body That is,
the president is not responsible to the legislature, nor is it empowered
to depose him for reasons of policy. At most he can be removed from
office for moral failings or ill health. The separation of powers is clearly
indicated by separate elections for the presidency and the legislative
body. On the other hand, the president is not independent of the
legislature, as evidenced by a series of checks and balances, such as the
need for the president to obtain the legislature’s ratification of
budgetary allocations and certain official appointments. The United
States is one of the few examples of a presidential model.
To a certain extent, the parliamentary model constitutes a
compromise between the conflicting principles inherent in the
assembly and the presidential regimes. Whereas the government is
elected by the parliament, responsible to it, and subject to its authority,
it remains a separate legal entity. Subordination to the legislature is not
absolute and is expressed mainly in the legislature’s power to dissolve