הוא יכול - אנחנו לא - מדוע שיטת הממשל האמריקאית עדיפה על זו הישראלית? - מאת יורי גנקין 

הוא יכול - אנחנו לא - מדוע שיטת הממשל האמריקאית עדיפה על זו הישראלית? - מאת יורי גנקין

The American political system is based on a federal system, putting the President in charge of the federal government, thus being also the commander in chief in charge of the army and the federal budget. The American President has the right to exercise his power in a way that actually allows something to get done from time to time. In Israel, for example, the parliamentary structure brings about chaos and continuous gridlock.

Make no mistake about it, President Obama is obviously engaged in constant debate with congress over policies he wishes to implement (with both Republican and Democrat Representatives and Senators). Nevertheless, the two-party system allows for a more or less constructive debate without having to deal with blackmail coalition politics on an everyday basis.

In Israel it is in fact the quite opposite. The country's biggest and most significant challenge (putting Iran's nuclear ambitions aside for a moment) is the deformed and damaged governmental system which makes it harder to govern but easier for Members of Knesset to make excuses for not being able to deliver on their promise as far as long term policies are concerned.

Let's take the Israeli summer protests as an example. The middle class protested because he got tired of paying high taxes without actually getting much in return, while at the same time spending outrageous amounts of money in order to purchase basic groceries in the local supermarket. Among other things, the protesters demanded the breach of the Israeli annual budget (in other words –injecting additional amounts of money from the state's reserve) in order to use it for various government supported programs that will benefit them in the long run.

Netanyahu refused this demand explaining it was fiscally irrational (he may be right) but the most important thing here is that even had he accepted it, the money would have been eventually transferred to people having nothing to do with the Israeli middle class – in order to ensure the survival of his coalition. This is what Netanyahu and other Prime Ministers before him were all about during roughly 64 years. 

כותב המאמר הוא יורי גנקין - יועץ אסטרטגי המתמחה בתחום המיתוג האישי והעסקי - מייסד ומנהל The Brand