The last president

Let's admit it: We actually wanted a king, not a president.

When the post of the first president of Israel was offered to Albert Einstein, Ben Gurion's associates imagined a giant, Jewish majestic figure that would reign high above the people, the type whose feet would never be stuck in the political quagmire but would float on air shrouded in a divine aura.

The British left, but we wanted a king of our own, like theirs. We have had many such kings in our history, haven't we?

But something went wrong along the way. The presidential office turned into an employment agency for politicians, or in other words, another means for politicians to control and stir the pot. First it was the Mapai candidates, and then the Likud started stirring as well.

Ultimately we have ended up with an embarrassment that has been going on for years. The post, taken up by small people, has come to resemble communism. The presidency is a somewhat intriguing idea but a little far-fetched in our reality.

Who needs it?

This dubious pleasure costs us NIS 26 million (roughly USD six million) a year (according to the Finance Ministry's statistics, some of which by the way goes towards financing the chambers of former presidents and their wives). This is not an astronomical sum in budgetary terms, but it is not a figure that can be ignored either considering the output.

What have recent presidents done for us, except scandals? And I am not necessarily referring to the scandals involving Ezer Weizmann and Moshe Katsav. I am talking about the irksome feeling I have, as do other Israelis, of "who on earth needs the presidency "?

Okay, so foreign ambassadors need to present their credentials somewhere, and there's an open house and an open Sukkah and lots of open things.

But would anyone here really be offended if the ambassadors, let's say, present their credentials at the Foreign Ministry instead of at the presidential residence? And would anyone be hurt if the public is received, let's say, by the prime minister and his ministers during the High Holidays? This could actually present an opportunity to bring the public closer to its elected representatives.

Every country seeks a stately figure to symbolize unity and the spirit of the people. Therefore, the British, the Dutch and several other countries maintain their expensive and ridiculous royal families in place.

This is also the reason why we find it difficult to part from one of the most burdensome inheritances bequeathed by Ben Gurion – as with the yeshiva agreement exempting students from military service – which have become a burden. We don't really need a president. What we need is an improved governmental culture with people of reputable stature.

No more than illusion

Why? Because "a president of the State of Israel" is an illusion. In Israel of 2006 there is no longer a wondrous figure that can unite all groups and parties, a kindhearted grandfather (or grandmother) figure who could embrace us all; both Right and Left, Jews and Arabs, Orthodox and secular.

We are a divided and multi-faceted society, similar to many Western societies. And that's fine, as long as we don't kill each other. And we don't have to invent a Santa Clause to bring us all together. It would suffice to communicate a little better and to elect a more suitable political leadership together. From all sides, by the way.

The Katsav affair can in this regard serve as a watershed that would prompt us all to reconsider the presidential institution in Israel. It's not Katsav and it's not Weitzman. It's us. We have simply matured along with the State. We no longer need symbols that imbue a touch of fraud and self-adornment.