The suspicion and lack of faith between President Reuven Rivlin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prompted Coalition Chairman MK David Amsalem to propose an amendment to Basic Law: The Government, which would guarantee that if the Likud wins the most votes in the next Knesset election, Rivlin will have to appoint Netanyahu to form the coalition.
Rather than changing the Basic Law, there is a much simpler way of solving the crisis – reinstating direct election of the prime minister, and thereby keeping the president completely out of the formation of a new government. According to the law for direct election of the prime minister (which was revoked in 2001), the president will not have to summon representatives of all the factions in a new government to ask them why they feel is best suited to be prime minister. If that were the case, no one would suspect the president of possibly planning to give the job of forming a coalition to a back-bench MK.
The direct election law makes it unequivocally clear that the public directly elects the next prime minister, not party central committee. Every citizen is asked to put two ballots in the box – one for their chosen candidate for prime minister, and the second for the party of their choice. We did that in the municipal elections held nationwide on Tuesday (for mayor and city council). If this idea were adopted, there would be no problem with Netanyahu remaining in power – despite the investigations involving him and the possibility of an indictment – because he could argue, rightfully, that a majority of the public has entrusted him to serve as prime minister.
The law enabling direct election of the prime minister was originally passed in 1992, over the objection of the government of then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir. The law was spearheaded by four Knesset members from the coalition and opposition who fought hard to see it passed. They were helped by a movement for political change called "Constitution for Israel" and had widespread public support.
One of the most enthusiastic supporters of the law was then-Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Benjamin Netanyahu. He supported it even though his Likud faction called for coalition discipline and demanded that all its ministers and MKs vote against it. Netanyahu believed that electing the prime minister directly would lead to more a more stable system of government, without frequent changes.
The law was first implemented in the general election in 1996, when Netanyahu beat Shimon Peres, who was prime minister after the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. In 1999, the second direct prime ministerial election took place, and Ehud Barak beat Netanyahu and stepped into power. But the Barak government couldn't hold on and in 2001 the public had to vote again – this time only for the prime minister. Ariel Sharon beat Barak to win.
The direct election law was revoked in March 2001 at the initiative of Sharon. It was repealed in a vote of 72:37. Opponents of direct election argued that voting for the prime minister separately from the political parties led to political fragmentation. Given the political situation today, a lot of people miss electing the prime minister directly.
