Behind the Headlines Knesset Ends Summer Session

The Knesset ended its summer session this week and will not reconvene again until after the High Holidays — unless — as is widely expected — it will be called into extraordinary session to hear a government statement on an interim accord with Egypt which would inevitably be followed by a political debate.

No such debate was held prior to the Knesset’s adjournment simply because, at the present stage of negotiations, the government has nothing new to report to the nation. But should significant developments occur in the next few weeks, it is highly likely that the opposition factions will demand a debate and they can easily muster the required number of votes to call the Knesset back into special session.

The summer session, just ended, can take credit for two pieces of legislation that will have important effects on the economic and political life in Israel. The most important measure by far was the government’s tax reform bill which has drastically changed the whole system of income, tax payments and — hopefully — will make the Israeli a more honest taxpayer. The second major enactment was the year-old bill calling for the direct election of mayors. Up to now, the mayors of Israeli cities and towns have been selected by the dominant party in each local city council.

MAJOR STRIKES IN THE OFFING

The legislative work on the tax reform bill was completed hastily, mainly because the Finance Ministry insisted that it be implemented on July 1. As a result, many areas of the complex tax reform measures remain vague and ambiguous and this has already had serious repercussions in labor relations and raised the possibility of more labor strife ahead.

Under government and Histadrut pressure, employers have promised their workers that their net take-home pay will not fall below their pre-reform pay. Although Israelis will be paying income tax at a much lower rate than before, virtually all of the old exemptions and loopholes have been abolished. This has already caused consternation among some segments of the work force and wildcat strikes and threats of strikes have erupted in recent weeks. Some observers believe that major strikes cannot be averted.

Politically, the last session of the Knesset reflected a rise in the powers of the legislative branch and a relative decline in the government’s power. Such is always the case when a government is weak or, at least, appears to be weak. The narrow base of Premier Yitzhak Rabin’s coalition government has encouraged many MKs of his own party to vote against the government or to rebel outright. One of the leading veteran Laborites, Arye Eliav, bolted the Labor Alignment and has joined Shulamit Aloni, who defected from the Rabin Cabinet months ago, to form a new opposition faction, Yaad.

COALITION MKS DESERT GOVERNMENT

On more than one occasion, recently, the government was deserted by its own coalition MKs and found itself in the minority on important votes. Such was the case last week when the Knesset adopted the mayoral elections bill on second reading along the lines favored by the opposition Likud and the smaller parties.

The National Religious Party, which is one of Rabin’s coalition partners, made common cause with Likud in insisting that a mayoral candidate must receive 50 percent of the popular vote to gain election. The Labor Alignment preferred a 40 percent plurality. A compromise was finally reached in which all parties agreed to the 50 percent formula but an amendment was immediately attached to the bill calling for a 40 percent minimum.

In the event that no candidate would receive 40 percent of the popular vote, it was agreed to hold run-off elections between the two leading contenders. But the Knesset had already adopted the 50 percent minimum on second reading and there was no time for the third and final reading in the summer session. Direct mayoral elections therefore will have to wait until the Knesset’s winter session.

The bill, nevertheless, is regarded as a major victory for the smaller parties which at present have little chance to govern any of the larger cities. The NRP joined Likud in insisting on a 50 percent minimum vote to elect a mayor because if feared that direct elections would reduce its representation on local town councils. Israel’s largest city, Tel Aviv, is presently governed by a Likud-NRP coalition with a Likud man, Shlomo Lehat, serving as mayor and NRP man as deputy mayor.

Political observers believe that the next Knesset session will be a crucial test for the Rabin government in that it will indicate whether or not the Premier can impose his leadership on his own party as well as on his coalition partners in the Knesset.