Don’t chew gum in front of TV cameras, don’t overdo the heckling and don’t miss too many sessions, dozens of parliament freshmen were told -but few believed the brief orientation seminar would help turn the unruly Knesset into a decorous debating club.
The 38 newcomers, including rabbis, generals and a former waitress, sat at wooden desks neatly lined up in a basement room in the Knesset on Monday for a five-hour course on parliament etiquette ahead of parliament’s opening next week.
In a scene reminiscent of the first day of school, each freshman stood up to state his or her name. Lots of homework was piled on the desks before them, including two hefty tomes on parliament procedure and how to write bills.
Organisers said they hope the new legislators will behave better than some of the veterans of the 120-member parliament, known for freewheeling debates and sometimes brutish discourse. ”A full third of the Knesset is new. There is hope that their speaking habits will change,” said parliament representative Giora Pordes.
Over the years, Israel’s political climate has grown more divisive. In the outgoing Knesset, the fracas got so bad that an exasperated legislator once circulated a list of insults — including swamp fly, gut-ripper and poodle — she wanted banned under threat of reprimand and suspension.
Many doubt freshmen orientation, which has been held in the past, will make a dent. ”Things won’t change,” said Hanan Krystal, longtime political reporter for Israel Radio. ”People come with their own behavior and they act like they want.”
Ronnie Bar-On, a lawyer and legislator with the Likud Party, said he won’t be ruffled by vigorous debate. ”The plenum and makeup of the Knesset is a microcosm of this people,” Bar-On said. ”We shout and are emotional and struggle and interrupt and get excited. Nothing will make me fall out of my seat in the Knesset.”
The legislators were told their monthly salary is about $6 000, almost five times the average pay in Israel. The job comes with a car and driver and $5 840 yearly to cover use of a cellular phone.
But, if they miss too many debates, they can be docked one month’s pay. They can also be expelled temporarily for excessive heckling, Knesset officials warned the lawmakers.
The newcomers listened with facial expressions ranging from intense interest to profound boredom. Omri Sharon, the son of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, arrived late and sat in the back row, poking at his electronic datebook for much of the time, while an assistant next to him typed notes into a laptop.
Inbal Gavrieli, a member of Sharon’s Likud, fiddled with her hair and spent much of the time talking with a neighbour. Gavrieli once worked as a waitress at her father’s restaurant and, at 27, will be one of the youngest Knesset members.
The chief security officer, Yitzhak Shadar, told the freshmen to bring their gas masks to work in the event of an American offensive against Iraq. If an Iraqi missile hits the building, parliament will be moved to another site, Shadar said. Those who forget their masks can use spare ones kept at the Knesset, he added.
Pordes told newcomers to watch out for the media. ”In every place in the Knesset, every corner, there are journalists,” Pordes said. ”They sting and they are cynical … Pay attention! The cameras are following you.”
Pordes urged the legislators not to repeat the mistakes of some of their predecessors, including dressing inappropriately and chewing gum while talking on camera.
The class ended on a potentially uplifting note, from a man wearing a Winnie the Pooh tie. ”Start working today toward everything that you are dreaming of,” said Judge Shlomo Shoham, head of a parliament watchdog group.
By that time many lawmakers had already left. – Sapa-AP