…And I think a major cause and symptom is the absence of representative government via elections by geography. For example, as a resident of Manhattan for most of my life, I had different representatives for different sections of government, city, state, national – but not in Israel. I had as a Manhattanite a congressman in the House of Representatives, who had an office in my district that I could call, or his Washington office, to ask for help or voice an opinion, and knew I would be responded pleasantly because the congressman wanted my vote and has to renew my mandate to him every 24 months.

In Israel, by contrast, I have no representative in the Knesset who wants my vote. Political parties in Israel are clubs, and when one joins, he of course must support the party leaders. Different ideas are not encouraged. This structure leads to behavior absent from better democracies.

Israel’s High Court also judges do not understand their role as in other democracies. And that for decades they have been alienated Jews who do not live Jewish lives…