Ariel Who? Israel's Truly Representative Undemocracy

Anyone who's been paying attention to the Israeli political system over the last year has had plenty to laugh and cry about. Ariel Sharon is the Prime Minister, but his name hasn't been used in the same sentance as the word "mandate" by anybody who's had fewer than five Maccabee beers. Sharon's footing is only slightly uphill on the slippery slope of Israeli polity than that of former prime minister and current foreign minister Shimon Peres, leader of the large Labor contingent in the Knesset. Earlier this week Sharon was making noise about not having Peres meet with Arafat until the violence subsides. Today, however, Peres and Arafat met. Sharon had to defend his archrival Peres from the right wing (yes, it goes further right than Sharon!). AP reports:
``Israel cannot allow itself to be absent from international events,'' Sharon replied, showing anger. ``We are not conducting political negotiations,'' he repeated several times to skeptical activists. Sharon said that Peres and Arafat could meet in a corridor and shake hands.
Peres was quoted in the same article as wanting to dismantle some settlements immediately...... presumably not Sharon's own settlement.
From a comparative politics point of view, Israel's Unity Government (an oxymoron of the highest quality) could either be seen as the very embodiment of - or an anathema to - true democracy. It is certainly representative: it represents the divisions, lack of concensus and direction, and fear in the Israeli public. Israelis have like Americans pulled together as a nation in the time of crisis, but unlike Americans lack clear direction; the Unity Government reflects all this. It reflects the good old Israeli ethos of "Let's all get together and argue!" Simultaneously, the government is undemocratic because its leaders do not have the support or confidence of the people. The new hybrid system of elections is completely illogical, so Sharon's election after Barak retired & then ran for his own seat the voters were unable to vote for their favorite, Netanyahu, and took Sharon mainly on the Anybody But Barak principle. And who voted for Peres? Where did he get the people's permission to seek peace? It's a crazy government in a crazy political system....