The esoteric issues elected officials are obsessing over seem utterly detached from Israeli voters’ existential worries
AT this time of anxiety and uncertainty, citizens of the State of Israel could perhaps have drawn a certain measure of comfort from seeing their elected representatives forgoing their annual summer vacations to put in long hours at the Knesset. But the business that preoccupied the people’s representatives might have generated more confusion.
What’s on their minds isn’t an attack from Iran or Lebanon, or the displaced residents of the north, or the beleaguered residents of the south, who suffered a number missile barrages last week after several months’ respite. On the Knesset agenda at this tensest of moments is a series of strangely out-of-touch bills, including a broadcasting bill apparently aimed at benefiting TV channels with ties to the government.
During one night of the recess, the coalition planned a white night at the Knesset to pass critical regulatory legislation ahead of an expected Iranian attack. Except that the Knesset speaker’s office was flooded with requests from MKs’ families to let them spend the evenings at home with their kids instead of in the plenum with their colleagues.
The priorities are perhaps a symptom of the overall confusion gripping the nation; since the big problems are so overwhelming, MKs want to feel useful by addressing small problems, akin to washing the dishes when a family member is sick. But whatever the reasons, the agenda could not proceed: The Otzma Yehudit faction once again failed to show up in the plenum.
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