The Knesset

By yeshuawept, 27th Sep 2011 | Follow this author | RSS Feed | Short URL http://nut.bz/n4544tcv/
Posted in Wikinut>Family>Religion

For centuries, Israel had the world's finest legislative body among the ancient world. Now, before our very eyes, the Jews are showing the world how to do politics on a supernatural level.

The olden days
The elements of the Knesset
Speakers of the Knesset and their parties
Speaker biographies and a salute

The olden days

Knesset means 'assembly', as per the Encyclopedia Judaica. The Hebrew word 'knesset' (Greek: 'synagoge') signifies a congregation, but it also signifies a tribunal.

The Knesset is Israel's parliament and legislature. It is situated in that tiny nation located between the River Yarden and the Mediterranean Sea. The name knesset and the number of its members were both adopted from the term Knesset ha-Gedolah, the Great Assembly of the 5th century BCE.

The Cambridge History of Judaism scholars are unsure, but they think the Men of the Great Synagogue (MGS) was a tribunal, the supreme judicial authority of the Pharisees in its time. The Hebrew pronunciation is anse kneset ha-gdolah. It is said a better translation of this term is Men of the Great Tribunal. The word gdolah in that phrase is as gadol in the expression Bet Din ha-Gadol, often used as 'supreme court', manifesting anse kneset ha-gdolah as members of the Pharisaic supreme court, based in Yerushalayim.

Such a tribunal would have very well replaced the Hellenized high-priestly dynasty with another which had won Yehudah's independence from the Syrians. Its members were chosen for their reverence for Jah and learning rather than social status.

Those whom the Hebrews call rabbis say MGS flourished between the neviim and Simeon the Just (the high priest who was a contemporary of Antiochus the 3rd of Syria). Neviim = 'prophets', a term the Jewish Bible gives to the former and latter prophets of Israel's history, scrolls like Samuel, Isaiah and Malachi.

1st Maccabees 14 says a great shul (synagogue) expelled the Zadokide priests and replaced them with the Hasmoneans.

According to tradition, this assembly was for the sake of Jah, and served as the opposite of the Assembly of the Generation of Division (AGD), more popularly known as the Tower of Babel. The AGD sought fame for themselves as individuals, and therefore could not endure. The MGS was a group governed by the principle of each person being without an acknowledged name, symbolic of personal selflessness - such living endures. The MGS was authoritative because they were disciples of the neviim: to be more specific, they were disciples of the post-exilic neviim, like Malachi, Zekaryah and Haggai.

According to Dvarim 17 and Chronicles, the central tribunal (MGS) had authority to make decisions only when a local court turned to it. A local court would do so when in doubt about Torah.

The elements of the Knesset

The Knesset consists of 120 members; it is body which is displayed as a single chamber. It legislates, supervises the government, represents viewpoints widespread in society regarding the main issues on the nation's mind, and elects the president and the state comptroller (one who checks on the 'goings-on' of public institutions, making sure they are upright).

The foundational laws governing the Knesset are 'Members Immunity' (1951), 'Basic' (1958), and 'Building and Compound' (1968). These laws have been amended.

Members are not elected directly, but are made according to a list.

Israel has a parliament system. Their work is divided between the plenum and the committees. The plenum's work involves legislation, debates, supervision of government work, expressions toward the prime minister, and elections (as per www.knesset.gov.il). There are 4 types of committees: permanent, special, parliamentary inquiry, and ethics.

The permanent committees are 12 in number: Constitution, Law, and Justice; Economics; Education and Culture; Finance; Foreign Affairs and Security; House; Immigration, Absorption, and Dispersions; Internal Affairs and Environment; Labor, Welfare, and Health; Science and Technology; State Control; and Status of Women.

The special committees are 3 in number: Drug Abuse, Rights of the Child, and Foreign Workers. The parliamentary inquiry committees deal with issues viewed by the Knesset as having national importance. The ethics committee is responsible for jurisdiction over members who have violated the ethics of the Knesset or who have been involved in illegal activity outside of the Knesset.

There are 2 other committees which convene when needed: Interpretations - deals with opposition to the speaker; Public - deal with issues connected to the Knesset.

They have their own TV channel. The plenum's agendas and minutes are published in print and on a website.

A strict separation of powers does not exist between the government and the Knesset. No government can start to function unless approved by the Knesset.

Speakers of the Knesset and their parties

The speaker conducts the affairs; gives external representation; preserves dignity, decorum and observance. Over time, the different speakers have brought the following parties into the mix: Mapai, Ahdut ha-Avodah, Alignment, Likud, Labor, and Kadimah.

Mapai = Workers' Party of the Land of Israel: had a Labor Zionism ideology and was dominant until its merger into the Labor party. Ahdut ha-Avodah = Labor Unity: Labor Zionism, was founded in Palestine in 1919 while under British military administration. Alignment = HaMa'arakh: Labor Zionism, was started to contest the 1965 Knesset elections. Likud = Consolidation: Liberal Conservatism, Revisionist Zionism; founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin. Labor = HaAvoda: Social Democracy, 3rd Way, Labor Zionism; it was established in 1968 by a merger of Mapai, Ahdut ha-Avodah, and Rafi. Kadimah = Forward: Centrism, Liberalism, Zionism; founded by Ariel Sharon after he left Likud in 2005.

I found it interesting that Labor's 3rd Way ideology has been identified with Kadimah's Centrism. 3rd Way is the attempt to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics. Centrism, to me, is more vague, but is said to focus around progressive taxation, civil liberties, and liberalism.

Speaker biographies and a salute

The 1st speaker was Yosef Sprinzak; he was born in Moscow in 1885. His family moved to Kishinev, then to Warsaw. He spent some time in Constantinople, then went to study medicine at the American University in Beirut. In 1910, he discontinued his studies to become the secretary for Ha-Po'el ha-Za'ir in Palestine. He served as speaker from 1949 until his death in 1959. His sensitivity and sense of humor helped him overcome conflicts. He wrote Among the Yemenites (1918).

The 2nd was Nahum Nir, born in Warsaw in 1884(then part of the Russian Empire, according to Wikipedia). He studied at university in St Petersburg, Zurich and Warsaw. In 1906 he was imprisoned for political activities. In 1925 he immigrated to Mandate Palestine (which means Palestine under the rule of the UK). He signed Israel's Declaration of Independence in 1948. He was elected to the 1st Knesset in 1949. When Sprinzak died in 1959, Nir became the speaker. The website www.knesset.gov.il states his profession was as an attorney. He died in 1968.

The 3rd was Kaddish Luz (or, Kadish),born in Bobruisk, Belorussia in 1895. He studied at the University of St Petersburg and served in the Russian army. In 1920 he settled in Palestine. He fought in the Yarden Valley in the War of Independence. He was elected speaker in 1959, serving for 10 years; during this period the new Knesset building was built. He presided over the opening in 1966; he provided Marc Chagall with the quotes from the Tanakh on which he based most of the pictures that appear on the 3 tapestries he made for the Knesset State Hall. Luz' impartiality and moderation made him popular with all the parliamentary groups in the House. He wrote Milestones (1962).

The 4th was Reuven Barkat (or, Barkatt), born in Tavrig, Lithuania in 1906. He studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. He immigrated to Erez Israel (the Land of Israel) in 1926. In 1961 he was appointed ambassador to Norway. He held the position as speaker until his death on the last day of Passover 1972.

The 5th was Israel Yeshayahu-Sharabi, born in Sadan, Yemen in 1908. In 1929, he immigrated to Palestine. He was appointed speaker in 1972, remaining there until 1977. He wrote 'The Curly One and Other Stories' (1979). He died in 1979.

The 6th was Yitzhak Shamir, born in 1915 in Ruzinoy in 'Eastern Poland' (which appears to be today's Ruzinov, Slovakia). He studied law in Warsaw, then immigrated to Palestine in 1935. He joined Lehi, the Israeli acronym for Fighters for the Freedom of Israel; he ended up getting arrested by the British - then he escaped. He was arrested by the British again in 1946 and was sent to Eritrea - and once again escaped, finding France to be a nation where he could acquire political asylum. He came to Israel after it was established. In 1955 he landed a senior post in the Mossad, serving there until 1965. After election to the 9th Knesset in 1977, he was elected their speaker - the 1st speaker from the Likud. After that, he moved on to be minister for foreign affairs.

The 7th was Yitzhak Berman, born in Berditchev, Ukraine in 1913. He made aliyah to Palestine in 1920. He served as liaison with the Allies during WW2, then served as legal advisor of the Kaiser-Frazier Factory in Haifa. He served as speaker for the 9th Knesset, starting in 1980.

The 8th was Menahem Savidor, born in 1917 in Bakhmut in the 'Russian Empire' (today's Artemivsk, Ukraine). He attended Vilnius University. In 1941 he made aliyah to Palestine and served in the British Army until 1946. He enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces in 1948. He was the Knesset speaker from 1981 to 1984. He lost his seat in the 1984 elections and was appointed chairman of the Public Committee to Rehabilitate the Economy in 1985 - I suppose that was the Israeli version of our 'stimulus package'. He died in 1988.

The 9th was Shelomo Hillel, born in Baghdad in 1923. He immigrated with his family to Palestine in 1933. He studied at Tel Aviv's Herzlia Gymnasium. He settled in Yerushalayim and studied at Hebrew University. He led Operation Ezra and Nehemiah in the 1950's (helping Iraq's Hebrews come to Israel). He organized illegal immigration from Syria and Lebanon. He was appointed Israel's 1st ambassador to Guinea (a country in western Africa formerly known as French Guinea). He also served as ambassador to the Ivory Coast, Dahomey, Niger and Upper Volta. In 1984 he became speaker - in this post he acted to stop Meir Kahane from presenting racist legislation (Kahane was at that time what Hebrews call a rabbi). Hillel left the Knesset in 1988 and moved on to be the head of the Foundation Fund in the Jewish Agency.

The 10th was Dov Shilansky, born in Siauliai, Lithuania in 1924. He was a Shoah survivor who made aliyah in 1948, arriving in Israel on the Altalena, just in time to fight in the Independence War (aka the 1948 Arab-Israeli War), where he served as a combat officer. He served as speaker in the 12th Knesset. He wrote books on political imprisonment and on the Shoah. He died in 2010.

The 11th was Shevah Weiss, born in Poland in 1935. He survived the Shoah, then traveled to Palestine in 1947. He graduated from the Hebrew University of Yerushalayim in 1961. He became a professor at the University of Haifa. He served as speaker from 1992 to 1996 (the years I served in the US Army). In 2000 he became Ambassador of Israel to Poland. In 2009 he told the Jerusalem Post ('Pope under fire for Yad Vashem speech') that Pope Benedict the 16th's speech at Yad Vashem disappointed him (I don't blame Weiss, knowing the twisted philosophy of the pope). I was disappointed to see that in that article Weiss did not provide a solid reason why he was disappointed. As of September 2011, as I write this, Weiss still graces Israel with his presence.

The 12th was Dan Tikhon (Tichon), born in Kiryat Haim, Israel in 1937. He served in the Israel Defense Forces, then graduated from the Hebrew University of Yerushalayim. He became speaker in the 14th Knesset. He lost his seat in the 1999 elections and moved on to assume a position at the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research. His reputation is as an economist and he apparently is alive and well.

The 13th was Avraham Burg, born in Yerushalayim in 1955. He attended Hebrew University of Yerushalayim, studying sociology and African studies. He was wounded in Operation Peace for Galilee. He demanded the resignation of Minister of Defense Ariel Sharon at the mass demonstration held at Malkhei Yisrael Square in Tel Aviv in 1982. He was wounded again, but in a different scenario - in 1983 a hand grenade was thrown by a Hebrew protester into a Peace Now demonstration in Yerushalayim (Burg was active then in Peace Now). From 1986 to 1988, he led the Center for Judaism and Tolerance. In 1991, he showed support in favor of separation of religion and state in the Labor Party Conference - but agreed to a compromise of the separation of politics and religion. At the Jewish Agency, he fought for the return of money deposited during WW2 in Swiss bank accounts by Hebrews who later died in the Shoah - his struggle was to have the money returned to the Hebrews. He ran against Ehud Barak's candidate for speaker and won. In 2001, he contested the Labor Party leadership and lost; he was reelected to the 16th Knesset and ended up resigning in 2004.

The 14th was, and the 16th is, Reuven Rivlin, born in Yerushalayim in 1939. He became speaker in the 16th Knesset (2003-2006), and currently serves in the 18th Knesset (beginning in 2009). In 2010, he said he would rather accept Palestinians as Israelis than divide the Land of Israel - I totally agree! That is the wisdom of King Shlomo there! He is a lawyer by profession.

The 15th was Dalia Itzik, born in Yerushalayim in 1952 to a non-religious family of Iraqi origin. She studied at Bar-Ilan University and Hebrew University in Yerushalayim; she received a teacher's diploma from the Efrata Teachers Seminary in Yerushalayim. She was a representative of Teddy Kollek's 'One Jerusalem' list in 1989, on the Jerusalem Municipal Council. She became speaker in 2006 - and I must say, there is just something about an attractive Jewess sporting a power-suit at the experienced age of 54!

And there you have it - the greatest legislative body in the world! It is located at Qiryat Ben-Gurion in Yerushalayim (Jerusalem). Tell them you love them by showing your support; if you do not love them, then I would question your faith. As it is written (Genesis 12.3), 'I will bless those who bless you...'

To Israel, and to those who love her, I offer this verse from I Corinthians 16: 'Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.'

Meet the author

yeshuawept
I am an Afrikaner American and I have learned to embrace my role as an evangelist, writer and traveler. My writing is a reflection of my experience, journeys and theology.