Word: knesset
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Orthodox rabbis already have wide civil powers. They approve all marriages, divorces and adoptions. Their political clout, moreover, grew during the Begin years. In order to win the support of Agudat Yisrael, the religious party that had four sometimes crucial seats in the Knesset, Begin made several concessions. He forbade El Al flights on the Sabbath, losing an estimated $30 million a year, and pushed through a law limiting autopsies, which violate Orthodox beliefs. Begin also agreed to push the highly controversial "Who is a Jew?" legislation, which would amend Israeli law to ensure that the only converts granted citizenship...
Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, 68, who came to his position after Menachem Begin abruptly resigned ten months ago, found his fragile Likud coalition crumbling in March, forcing the Knesset to call the July 23 elections. Shamir faces Shimon Peres, 60, the Labor Party leader who lost twice to Begin (in 1977 and 1981). The two men share a quiet, unruffled style, but their views diverge sharply (see interviews). Neither candidate leaves any doubt as to what is at stake. "It is not that the ship of Israel fell apart, but that it is sailing in the wrong direction," says Peres...
Polls last week found Labor leading with 44% to Likud's 28%. That voting pattern would give Peres as many as 52 seats in the 120-member Knesset, vs. 33 for Likud. However, one-fourth of the electorate is undecided, and Likud may have an edge with that group. Israelis remember that Likud at first trailed badly in the polls in 1981, only to emerge victorious. But there are important differences. In 1981, Likud began to close the gap ten weeks before the election, and Begin helped his chances by cutting taxes on luxury goods and staging a lightning attack...
...outright grant of $ 1.4 billion. But Israelis are getting increasingly concerned that such financial dependence could compromise their sovereignty. Israeli Finance Ministry officials, for example, meet frequently with U.S. Government officials to discuss their economic problems. "We are losing our independence," complains Gad Yaacobi, a Labor member of the Knesset...
...preach social integration. We are busing our children. We have about 25% mixed marriages," says Eliezer Shmueli, a Sephardi who is director general of the Ministry of Education. "There is a renaissance of Sephardic culture and ethnic pride." A record 29 Sephardim sit in the 120-member Knesset; three are in Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir's 19-man Cabinet. Chief of Staff Moshe Levy is a Sephardic Jew, as is Israel Kesar, secretary-general of the 1.1 million-member General Federation of Labor. The second in command of both major political parties, Yitzhak Navon of Labor and David Levy...