Whoever wins next week’s election will find that Israel is not easily governable, perhaps not at all. It will therefore be close to impossible to implement many of his plans or under-takings. There may ensue a deeper frustration with the political process and even a dangerous despair of democracy.

This is not only because of the obvious reason that made former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pull out of a race he was sure to win – namely, the total dysfunction of a Knesset that is torn into so many factions that only the worst populist measures seem to get it galvanized. It is also because the basically rickety machinery of the Israeli government is moved by the bureaucracy’s own agendas, which often conflict with those of the legislature, or even with the wishes of their titular bosses, the ministers and the prime minister above all.

The publication last week of two documents: one, the State Attorney’s Office protocol suggesting a cover-up by its top members; the second, a remarkable interview with Hebrew University law professor Ruth Gavison, raises many questions about the legal system’s ethos and role. Gavison, a distinguished jurist, criticizes the legal establishment for acting as a closed guild, and for trying to impose a Western, secularist, liberal ethos on a pluralistic society. But actually, the legal establishment, especially the Justice Ministry, is thoroughly illiberal.