Jewschool has posted the results of the World Zionist Organization election.
Hatikva-Meretz obtained 5 of the 145 seats in the American delegation (down by one from the previous election) on 3.31% of the votes. That gives it an advantage ratio greater than 1.00, whereas the leading slate (ARZA-Reform, of course) had an advantage ratio of slightly under 1.00. ARZA-Reform’s 55 seats on 38.1% of the vote is six seats less than in the last election.
I have voted for parties or candidates who won under 5% of the vote before, but I think this is actually the first time I have ever voted for my sincere partisan choice and been represented. Quite democratically liberating, actually. Even the Green Zionist list was represented, with 2 seats (up from 1) on 1.3% of the vote!
Well, good to see my party improved by one.
Seed planted by Jonathan Edelstein — 07 March 2006 @ 18:24
I–er, I mean, my wife–would have voted Green Zionist, except that we both decided it was a bit too single-issue. Their platform on the AZM website mentioned nothing but environment. Now, I agree that is a crucial issue, and I expect it to be a major part of any Green platform, but the real Green parties (e.g. Germany, New Zealand, and even the tiny one in California, which I have frequently voted for) take stands on a wide range of issues. It just seemed odd to vote for a Zionist party that advertised no position on the fundamental questions of what it means to be a Zionist and on Israel-Palestinian relations more generally.
Luckily, it improved its representation without my vote (oops, there I go again–I meant without Merry’s vote).
This leads me to ask: Is there a Green party in the Knesset? If there is, I must admit to never having been awaare of it.
Seed planted by MShugart — 07 March 2006 @ 18:54
There’s a Green Party in Israel, but it has never crossed the Knesset threshold.
What attracted me about the Green Zionists was that they support a platform I’ve been pushing for years - getting the JNF out of the housing business and into environmental reclamation. The JNF has no business owning land in Israel any more - there’s no longer any need for a parastatal organization to protect Jewish land rights, and it’s disgusting that one eighth of Israeli land is held under restrictive covenant. The Green Zionist Alliance may be a one-issue faction, but their one issue impinges on one of the few areas where the World Zionist Congress is a policy-making body rather than a hot air society.
Seed planted by Jonathan Edelstein — 07 March 2006 @ 19:15
I can see I should have consulted with Jonathan before the vote! Excellent point on the JNF conversion, and it reminds me of a question that was not adequately answered for me before the voting closed: What exactly does the body just elected do?
Well, as I said above, at least it gained a seat over its previous total!
Seed planted by Professor Matthew Søberg Shugart — 08 March 2006 @ 07:35