The Influence of Ethnic Groups or Culture upon Israeli and Iraqi Coalition Governments - Case Study Example

Comparison of Israeli and Iraqi Coalition Parliamentary Governments 23 November Introduction Coalition parliamentary government refers to a government which function with the help of more than one political party. Even though countries like United States and Britain have limited number of political parties, the case is entirely different for other countries like India, Israel, Iraq, etc. In these countries, it is difficult for a single political party to get majority in parliament elections. Under such circumstances, in order to avoid political stalemate, small parties may support larger parties to get majority in the parliament and to form the government. Instead of a government led by a single party as in the case of United Sates, a government led by multiple parties (Coalition government) may take charge in countries like India, Israel, Iraq etc. Unlike governments led by single party system, coalition governments cannot function independently because of the different views, opinions, ideologies and policies of the members of the different political parties in the coalition government. This paper compares the influence of ethnic groups or culture upon Israeli and Iraqi coalition governments. Analysis Methodology Iraq and Israel are the two prominent countries in Middle East which have coalition governments at present. However, Israel and Iraq are entirely different countries as far as culture is concerned; Arabs or Muslims dominate the population in Iraq whereas Israel is the Jews’ state. It should be noted that these two countries have different ethnic groups. Each ethnic group and each region in these two countries have separate political parties which argue for the interest of the particular community or region. Israel is a Jewish country whereas Iraq is a Muslim country. However, clashes in Iraq between different ethnic groups are more than that in Israel even though both the countries have coalition governments at present. I would like to compare the functioning of these coalition governments in order to learn more about the influence of cultural differences upon the functioning of coalition governments. Influence of ethnic groups or culture upon Israeli coalition government Political parties in Israel can be classified into two broad categories; Zionist parties and non-Zionist parties. non-Zionist parties are negligible in number and strength. Labor Zionism (social democrat), Revisionist Zionism (conservative) and Religious Zionism are the major political thoughts among Zionist parties. Out of these three political philosophies, Religious Zionism is comparatively weaker than the other two which is the major reason why the influence of religion upon Israeli politics is comparatively lesser than that in Iraq. Israel’s new coalition government (created in January 2011) has become more conservative in its domestic policy position and more hawkish in its foreign policy stance. A series of events in recent months highlights this trend, including disagreements between Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama regarding an appropriate basis for peace negotiations with Palestinians, Israel’s response to the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation deal, and its response to clashes with Palestinians along its borders in recent months. In addition, the country’s changing demographic profile signals that conservative political groups are likely to exert more influence over the medium-to-long term as well1. As in the case of many other countries in the world, conservative parties and liberal and democratic parties are more in Israel also. Conservatives normally may not give up their traditional beliefs and tougher stands on global issues easily. On the other hand liberal and democratic parties usually keep a space for accommodating changes in line with the political and economic developments in the world. One of the major curses facing by Israeli politics is the excessive number of political parties which keep extremely different views on various global issues. For example, some of the liberal parties in Israel are favoring an amicable settlement with Palestine and they have no hesitation in accepting and approving an independent Palestine state. On the other hand some of the major conservative parties in Israel are against such a settlement and they are continuously making their stand on Palestinian issue, tougher and tougher. It should be noted that the current Israeli government consists of as many as thirteen political parties which have entirely different views on various issues. The name and strength of these political parties in Israeli parliament is illustrated in the figure given below. Coalition Weighted Towards Conservative Parties Israel - Parties in Knesset and Number of Seats on January 18 2011 2 From the above illustration, it is evident that no single party in Israel has the strength to form a government. Kadima is the largest which has only 28 members in the parliament. However, Likud party leader Netanyahu was elected as the prime minister with the help of smaller parties. Some of the other key figures in the government are; “Finance Minister – Yuval Steinitz (Likud); Minister of Foreign Affairs – Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu); Minister of Defence – Ehud Barak (Atzmaut); Minister of Industry and Trade – Shalom Simhon (Atzmaut); Central Bank Governor – Stanley Fischer Yachad”3. The number of parties with only three or four members are plenty in the government and therefore, it is difficult for the prime minister Netanyahu to take independent decisions. “The disagreements between Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and US President Obama highlight, in part, the former’s need to maintain the political support of conservative coalition partners at home4. It should be noted that the most liberal party in Israel is the labor party which is currently out of the coalition government. Liberal party was a prominent member in the previous government and therefore the previous government was not much tougher in its stands on Palestine issue. Influence of ethnic groups or culture upon Iraqi coalition government As in the case of Israel, the influence of different ethnic groups or culture upon the current Iraqi government is evident to an external observer. The current Iraqi coalition government is believed to be a toy government of America. In other words, many political observers believe that America is instrumental in shaping current politics in Iraq. Unlike Israel, Iraq consists of numerous ethnic groups which clash each other. During Saddam’s era, many innocent Kurds were killed because of cultural reasons. “The various disputes that have contributed to the continuing instability in iraq have been viewed through an ethno-sectarian lens, leading to an emphasis on balancing the interests of the three communities” (Shi’i, Sunni and Kurd)5. Saddam was the leader of Sunnis and he kept enmity towards Shi’i and Kurdish groups. In order to make these suppressed communities satisfied, America posted a coalition government dominated by these ethnic groups in Iraq. At the same time, it should be noted that Sunnis are not much interested in such a move by America and therefore the clashes between the ethnic groups are still going on in Iraq. America believes that the nexus between Shi’i and Kurdish groups will help Iraq to bring peace on its soil. It is a fact that Shi’i and Kurdish groups constitutes majority of the population in Iraq. At the same time nobody can neglect the strength of Sunnis. So, it is necessary to ensure Sunnis enough participation in the government in order to baptize Iraq as a true democracy. New York Times on 3/4/2011 has reported that “Iraqs shaky power-sharing government suffered another setback as former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi rejected a high-ranking advisory job that had been created to end the countrys protracted political deadlock”6. One of the major reasons for the increased violence or clashes between different ethnic groups in Iraq is the lack of confidence between the members of the government. Even though the current coalition government has representation for all the three major ethnic groups (Shi’i, Sunni and Kurd), the trust between the ministers from different ethnic group is for namesake only. Conclusions The influence of religion upon Iraqi politics is more than that in Israel. Different ethnics groups in Israel have more similarities in their belief than differences. On the other hand, in Iraq, different ethnic groups have more differences than similarities in their belief. Israeli people are not much interested in doing anything which may cause problems to their nation whereas Iraqis are more interested in protecting their religious values and norms than protecting the interests of the country as a whole. In short, leading a coalition government in Iraq is extremely difficult than leading a coalition government in Israel. Bibliography Alkadiri Raad. Oil and the question of federalism in Iraq. 2010. International Affairs 86: 6 (2010). Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Oxford, UK Chapter 1: Political Outlook, Israel Business Forecast Report Date: June 1, 2011 Business Monitor International Ltd EBSCOhost. Healy Jack & Schmidt Michael S. Iraqi Coalition Leader Balks at Post, Dealing Government a Blow. 2011. The New York Times, 3/4/2011 Political Overview. 2011. Israel Defense & Security Report Q4 2011. Business Monitor International Ltd, EBSCOhost. Read More