{"id":1616,"date":"2014-06-18T17:51:30","date_gmt":"2014-06-18T17:51:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/?p=1616"},"modified":"2015-01-28T22:21:52","modified_gmt":"2015-01-28T22:21:52","slug":"how-israels-government-works-civics101","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/how-israels-government-works-civics101\/","title":{"rendered":"How Israel\u2019s Government Works: Civics101."},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tom Brennan<\/a><\/p>\n

In spite of attempts to plant democratic governments in the Middle East by the United States and Europe, in reality the only genuinely successful democracy has been Israel. The experience of bearing the brunt of persecutions that Israel\u2019s founders had endured convinced them that establishing a working democratic form of government in The Land would keep it free and strong. They were right and it works. Support for Israel is essential to keep the door to democracy in the Middle East open.<\/p>\n

\"Knesset_building\"<\/a>

Knesset_building<\/p><\/div>\n

Israel is a parliamentary democracy under a set of 11 basic laws instead of a formal constitution. There is a President and Prime Minister in the Executive Branch. The Knesset is the Legislative Branch where laws are proposed, debated and voted upon. There are 11 political parties which hold seats in the Knesset and many which do not. The Knesset has 120 members; they are elected for 4 year terms. There can be a call for new elections for a new Knesset and since 1988 no Knesset has served its full term. Unlike the United States, where only impeachment can dislodge a Chief Executive, in parliamentary democracies a vote of no confidence for the Executive Branch can bring down a Government. Israel has a record of stability. In contrast; Italy has been notorious for having votes of no confidence. The inherent sensibility of Israel\u2019s citizens is to credit for this ability to use a system with this feature wisely. The Judicial System includes secular and religious courts. Labor courts, military courts, and Admiralty court. Because of the mixture of separate religions in a state that recognizes Orthodox Judaism as the official religion; religious courts maintain an even hand on traditions that occasionally differ from the official religious faith. This helps maintain a harmony which very few nations would ever attempt much less achieve.<\/p>\n

There is a wide group of government agencies that regulate. Recently the agency that deals with labor laws recognized Christian Arabs as a minority. This can assist in possible problems with discrimination. Other agencies deal with issues such as environment, energy and other areas where government regulations are applied.<\/p>\n

\"The_Knesset_in_Jerusalem\"<\/a>

The_Knesset_in_Jerusalem<\/p><\/div>\n

Israel is represented in the United Nations and other world governmental bodies. Israel has seen its share of problems and confrontations at the United Nations, that\u2019s for sure. The Land has the steady support of its allies in most cases. Israel makes serious contributions to international humanitarian relief and for a nation its size does considerable refugee relief as seen with the Syrian tragedy.
\nOn a local level cities have mayors. The cities and villages are arranged by six governing districts :Central District; Haifa District; Jerusalem District; Northern District; Southern District; Tel Aviv District. Local city councils, local councils, regional councils are the means of administration within the districts. The system is modern and extremely responsive and efficient.<\/p>\n

The Ministry of Defense is charged the protection of the nation and all its citizens. The IDF and other service branches have no peers in their skills and ability to protect The Land. The Ministry also has responsibilities for territories.<\/p>\n

Israel is a democracy that has a history of success. There has been a continuity and stability in Israel that has endured since 1948. In a part of the world where dictators have clothed themselves in the suits of presidents and premiers and yet worn the crowns of despots and dictators, Israel shines like a beacon of freedom and democratic ideals. Most of the neighboring countries have seen bloody revolutions, civil wars and brutal repression. Today Christians are being driven out and murdered daily. Although the mainstream media has ignored the large scale church burnings in places like Syria, Israel\u2019s inclusive policies and respect for its citizens of all faiths stands out against the ongoing daily strife in the region. Christians in Europe and the United States have a duty of faith to support this valiant nation which gives security and liberty to its citizens. Israel and Jerusalem occupy an immeasurable place within the Bible and the hearts of many people in all nations. For that nation to be overcome by exterior enemies, malevolent political forces from within or other entities that would change the sacred landscape or harm the heart of its people is unthinkable. Israel stands like a city on a hill and support for The Land and its people are a duty we all share.<\/p>\n

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\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"reddit\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"reddit\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Tom Brennan In spite of attempts to plant democratic governments in the Middle East by the United States and Europe, in reality the only genuinely successful democracy has been Israel. The experience of bearing the brunt of persecutions that Israel\u2019s founders had endured convinced them that establishing a working democratic form of government in more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[524],"tags":[75,625,260,631,261,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-1616","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-just-thought","8":"tag-israel","9":"tag-israeli-news","10":"tag-israeli-government","11":"tag-israeli-life","12":"tag-knesset","13":"tag-news-from-jerusalem","14":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1616"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1620,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1616\/revisions\/1620"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}