If a referendum could lead to a civil war, wouldn't a withdrawal do even worse!!

I think a civil war might have less casualties than an appeasing Israel without one

The only reason politicians are against holding a referendum is nothing to do with public trust in the system its to do with the result of the vote not being to the liking of the politicians themselves. The likes of Olmert fear the referendum idea because it means they cant have their way. As for loosing trust in the system does anybody actually have any trust in the system as it is now? We have no constitution to protect our rights from corupt politicians. We have a political system thats a shambles where you ellect a party thats acountable to nobody and the MKS are acountable to their leader. Coalitions damage democracy because what you promise the public may not be what they get because you need to make concesions to get your coalition. Regional directly ellected MKS who listen to the problems of the people of his region & based on party with majority seats wins the ellection no coalitions. We need a constiution, a new electoral system and indipendently worded referendums on important issues like giving up Jerusalem or the Golan Heights.

A general vote on single issue will always be problematic, especially since there are debates over wording etc.. A 80 member vote in the Knesset would make acts of consequence require a broader consensus. Looking back perhaps the peace with Egypt would have passed while Oslo would not have. Too many things like the Basic laws, and appointment of judges are done as if a steering committee of Labor flunkees still rule the country.

You sure seem to dislike communists for a guy posting on a website based in a nation founded in part by communist kibbutzes. One thing I can say... "communist" mass murderers seldom adhere to the basic ideology of communism. They are communist in propaganda only. Stalin can hardly be called a communist in the philosophical sense. All the capitalist mass murderers however, they hold true to their beliefs. Capitalism has its victims in the millions, no less than those who profess to promote communism, and indeed far more since all the deaths throughout the world from poverty and inequality have to be laid at the feet of capitalism. Killing is fully compatible with that ideology. It's not compatible with democracy, which in a broad sense is almost synonymous with communism, which is why none of the capitalist "democracies" of the world (actually all just corrupt republics at best) care what their people think, but hey, telling people they live in a democracy has a nice placebo effect. Keeps 'em docile and compliant. It works especially well when mixed with nationalism and xenophobia. But I'm guessing your real grief is with Cuba. Well, perhaps you could console yourself that unlike you and I, they have national healthcare.

would end in a massive "NO!!" vote on both issues. End of story.

I re-read this article, afr a fast reading and disagreeing: The prof. does make a good point in that how the referendum is created AND worded are very important.

Isnt it obvious that resistance is the only sane response to acts that would leave the country without defences from its enemies.

bring it on and lets kick some Shas butt !!!!

“We are tired of fighting, we are tired of being courageous, we are tired of defeating our enemies, we want to be able to live in an entirely different environment of relations with our enemies." Ehud Olmert June 2005 address to the Israel Policy Forum in New York WE ARE TIRED OLMERT ! JAIL OLMERT NOW !!

DISENFRANCHISEMENT, IGNORRANCE, AND AN ELECTORATE BEREFT OF WISDOM-CALL A REFERENDUM, SEE IF ANYONE PARTICIPATES; SEE IF ANYONE CARES!

GOING TO GET APPOINTED TO THE POST OF ELECTORATE GENERAL ? SECURE THE POLLING PLACES WITH HEIGHTENED SECURITY FORCES, PERSONALLY COUNT EVERY VOTE, AND EDUCATE THE ELECTORATE FOR A DECADE PRIOR ? FIRE ALL THE WHORE REPORTERETTES (OVER ROUGED & CLEVIDGED) IN AN ATTEMPT TO OVERIDE THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE DOCTRINE ? WHAT'S YOUR HALLUCINOGEN ?

There you are! Now thats fair right?