In 1787, James Madison articulated in Federalist Papers No. 10 that partisan polarization could fundamentally threaten a democratic republic. “Violence of faction,” as he called it, must be controlled.
Madison’s vision has been proved right yet again this week — in Jerusalem.
On Monday, Israel’s teetering eight-party coalition government imploded, triggering the fifth general election in just four years. This collapse occurred after multiple right-wing legislators refused to compromise with their left-wing colleagues and then rebelled against the coalition. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett confessed that his coalition of ideological antagonists, consisting of right-wing Orthodox, left-wing and Arab parties, had “exhausted all efforts to stabilize” itself.
