'Politics a calling.' Peres
Photo:Yotam Frum
Peres: Limit politicians' term to 8 years
'Politicians must understand that they were elected to serve the public and not themselves,' President says after receiving 2008 democracy index
Israel must adopt the political norms prevalent in many countries around the world and limit the terms of its politicians to 4-8 years, so public service "won’t become a life-long career", President Shimon Peres said Tuesday.
Speaking at a ceremony in which he was presented with the 2008 Democracy Index, Peres, who has been involved in Israeli politics for the past 60 years, said "politicians must understand that they were elected to serve the public and not themselves.
"A politician should consider his work a calling and not as something that serves his or her own interests," the president said.
Peres called on Israeli youngsters to enter the political arena and "fix it from within instead of complaining about it from the outside".
Peres suggests modifying the election system in such a way that would allow university students to be voted directly to Knesset.
"There are 230,000 young people attending Israel's universities; these youngsters served in the army, where they were given guns and operated aircraft; they are far more advanced that we are," he said.
