Government
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Israel is our Jewish homeland. But many kinds of people with different opinions live there. Some are Orthodox Jews and some are not. Some are not Jews at all. They may be Christians or Muslims. The job of the government is to make sure that there are rules so that everyone can live together. The government also decides how much money people will pay for services like roads, helping poor people, schools, and for an army to defend the country. Because Israel is a Jewish country, many of the laws are based on Halacha (Jewish Law.) |
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In the United States, there is a Congress to make laws. In Israel, there is a parliament, called the “Knesset,” to make laws. In the United States, we usually choose our President and Congress from two groups of people, Democrats or Republicans. These groups are called political parties. In Israel, there are many, many political parties. People from these parties all want the government to do certain things. When Israelis go to vote for members of Knesset, they think about what they would like the government to do or whether the political party that they are voting for has people like them. |
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There are 120 members of the Knesset and now they are from 15 different political parties. Imagine how many opinions they have! For example, some parties think that Israel should be as big as possible. |
Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
http://www.jajz-ed.org.il/1
00/people/people.html
Other political parties think that Israel should give some of its land to other people if it might bring peace. The National
Religious Party was created by the same Mizrachi organization that founded our school. Rabbi Haim Druckman is one of its representatives. The National Religious Party believes that all of the government should be run by halacha. However, they have always worked with ALL Jews, regardless of their beliefs.
A famous man from Russia, Natan Sharansky, founded a political party for other people who come from Russia.
When he lived in Russia, Sharansky was in jail for wanting to move to Israel!
The Arabs who live in Israel also have political parties.
People in Israel take a lot of time to learn about the parties and to vote for the one that they think is the most important.
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The Knesset chooses the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is the person in charge of the government. |
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Israel also has a President who is elected every seven years. The President of Israel does not have as much power as the President of the United States. He mostly represents the government to other countries and to important people. w |
| If you would like to learn more about the Knesset, you can go to their website: www.knesset.gov.il. There you can take a “tour” and see different rooms in the Knesset building. You can even e-mail members of the Knesset and tell them what you think or ask them questions. |
WEB-SEARCH
Try to find out....
What is in front of the Knesset building?
How is the President of Israel elected? Who was the first President of Israel?
When was President Katzav born? Is he Ashkenazi or Sephardi?
Where is the Knesset?
CHALLENGE: When Natan Sharansky was in Russia, what was his name? Why was he in jail? How was he freed? What is the name of his political party?
If you are a FMS student and try the challenge questions, email the author your answers at sjablon@fuchsmizrachi.org.
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