The New Yorker: "The Tsuris" Why Barack Obama may be the First Jewish President

[Bucky]

4. Netanyahu is the kind of politician you get out of a proportional representation system

Israel has the most extreme form of proportional representation in its Knesset. The country has only one electoral district with 150 seats. If a party gets 10 percent of the vote, it gets 10 percent of the seats. The barrier for getting allocation is 2% of the national vote. This system encourages extremists, polemicists, and megalomaniacs to break off their own minor factions and gain voting leverage against the major parties for forming governments. Typically the two major parties only gather 30-35% of the Knesset seats and then have to mollify the splinter factions to slap together a working majority. This is tailor-made for religious fanatics to gain control over a few pet issues even if its contrary to the interests and opinions of the vast majority of mainstream Israelis. It essentially prevents any Prime Minister from making major steps toward settlement with the Palestinians and makes irreconcilables like Bibi seem more like little Winston Churchills.