W.'S MIDEAST SHIFT

June 25, 2002 -- PRESIDENT Bush yesterday proved that he is not only the best friend Israel has ever had, but the best friend the Palestinian people have ever had as well.

The speech Dubya delivered outside the Oval Office was a turning point for truth-telling in the Middle East.

the only hope for peace and security in the Middle East is for a future Palestinian state to have a Western-style democratic structure and a Western-style free-market economy.

Be good for the region if Israel had a Western-style democratic structure and a Western-style free-market economy too. Maybe conservatives in Israel will make it happen.

Israel does-- it's fractious and a bit different from ours, but that's what self-determination is all about. For that matter, England's system is different from ours, but it works just fine. There is more than one model to choose, and there may be more ways not yet tried anywhere that could work-- it's just the fundamentals of free elections for legislature & executive, an independent judiciary and the rule of law, and respect for individual rights that are essential. We think our constitution is essential, but, you know, the Brits do just fine with nothing more specific than the Magna Carta.

Israel has to move on Hamas and eliminate them. The bogus house arrest that Yassin is supposedly under...is a final ploy by Arafat to look like he still has control and respect. Arafat is a 'nowhere man', that nobody listens too anymore.

Remember...it was just a few months ago that his fellow islamic terrorists told Arafat to die and become a martyr. Of course, Yassir said "No sir" to that request.

Israel does not have a constitution. The Knesset, in theory, has unlimited power. When the state was founded, Israelis planned on writing a constitution within 6 months. While they've made some progress, they havenever agreed fully on what to put in it. The Israeli Supreme Court has, at times, knocked down laws (in 2000 the Court make it illegal to prevent Arab citizens from not being allowed to buy or rent property where ever they wanted, for instance). But no one knows what power the court really has. Last week the Supreme Court ordered the release of a right wing Israeli suspected of terrorism. The IDF ignored the ruling.

This does tend toward the type of democracy the American founders strove to avoid: a tyranny of the majority.

In the economic area, Israel ranks #43 on the WSJ/Heritage index of economic freedom. The highest tax bracket, 50%, kicks in at around $35,000. Then there is a VAT tax of 17%. Plus this fee and that fee. There are Arab states in the Gulf which have more economic freedom than Israel. Israel is far more socialist than countries we regard as very left wing. Canada, Germany, the UK all rank much higher in economic freedom that Israel.

While we can't know, it is at least possible that had the founders of Israel designed the state on the Hong Kong model rather than the Soviet model , the problems Israel faces today would not be as great.

Free trade, a rule of law not subject to the whims of a transient majority and upholding property rights could have made Israel a trading center and a gem of the mideast. Hong Kong faced more of an enemy than Israel does. Yet, because of trade, Communist China, aside from some minor clashes, saw it was in there interest to let the colony survive.

the Brits do just fine with nothing more specific than the Magna Carta.

They do but there is a huge difference. The UK, until recently, was a homogenous society with more than 700 years of tradition and legal precedence. There was a consensus on what it was to be an Englishman and what rights they had. Not so in Israel. You have everyone from communists to ultra-orthodox to reform and secular Jews in government. People from all over the world. Plus Arab citizens. I don't know if a Israeli constitution would be good or not actually. I would not want us to write one today. Too many factions would want their pet "rights" inserted into it. But Israel could do more to ensure consistency in law.

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