limiting government

Tue 29 Apr 2008
The Jerusalem Post
An Irish-style banana republic

It must be either naivete or cynicism that allows “Israel 2028” recommend a reform that will make government a larger and a more efficient instrument for economic growth.

Wed 20 Feb 2008
The Jerusalem Post
Dangerous infatuation

Government can no more control powerful economic forces than it can the rise and fall of tides. To effectively fulfill its nightwatchman role—to protect us from internal and external violence and to enforce contracts—government must be kept limited.

Wed 13 Sep 2006
The Jerusalem Post
Galilee gravy train

I’m amazed that hard-nosed Jewish businessmen in the Diaspora are ready, when it comes to Israel, to suspend their critical judgment and back politically motivated projects managed by notoriously inefficient bureaucracies about which they so bitterly complain when they themselves try to invest in Israel.

Thu 25 Sep 2003
The Jerusalem Post
Ministers, cuts, and growth

The wildest optimist could not have expected that for two consecutive years Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu would manage not only to slash the government budget by very significant amounts but actually shrink our bloated public sector (which employs every third person in Israel) by reducing salaries and eliminating jobs.

That Netanyahu has also begun to tackle one of the thorniest economic problems bedeviling all democracies, the bankrupt public pensions funds, and has also vowed to continue privatizing government-owned assets – including the banks, the ports and the electric and water monopolies – shows extraordinary determination and political courage.

Thu 1 Feb 2001
The Jerusalem Post
Stranglehold of the bureaucracy

Whoever wins next week’s election will find that Israel is not easily governable, perhaps not at all. It will therefore be close to impossible to implement many of his plans or under-takings. There may ensue a deeper frustration with the political process and even a dangerous despair of democracy.

This is not only because of the obvious reason that made former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pull out of a race he was sure to win – namely, the total dysfunction of a Knesset that is torn into so many factions that only the worst populist measures seem to get it galvanized. It is also because the basically rickety machinery of the Israeli government is moved by the bureaucracy’s own agendas, which often conflict with those of the legislature, or even with the wishes of their titular bosses, the ministers and the prime minister above all.

Wed 17 Nov 1999
The Wall Street Journal
The search for justice

The publication last week of two documents: one, the State Attorney’s Office protocol suggesting a cover-up by its top members; the second, a remarkable interview with Hebrew University law professor Ruth Gavison, raises many questions about the legal system’s ethos and role. Gavison, a distinguished jurist, criticizes the legal establishment for acting as a closed guild, and for trying to impose a Western, secularist, liberal ethos on a pluralistic society. But actually, the legal establishment, especially the Justice Ministry, is thoroughly illiberal.