Knesset Aides Say MK’s Not Doing Homework

An overwhelming 92 percent of aides say they think Knesset members are unprepared for committee meetings and 95 percent think the Knesset is failing in its responsibility to oversee the work of the government, according to a new poll.

The Knesset employees, who are able to view the MK’s performance first-hand, were questioned by researchers from the Israel Democracy Institute, in the first survey of its kind.

The seemingly devastating results were mitigated, however, by another finding in the same poll, in which 65 percent of aides say the MK’s they themselves work for are doing their homework for the Knesset. Evidently, they were much more critical of other MK’s, suggesting some partisanship in their responses.

Researchers surveyed aides of 40 of the 91 MK’s who are not ministers or deputy ministers.

“The poll proves the problem is not just on the personal level or with regards to the public obligation of one MK or another,” says IDI President Yohanan Plesner in a statement. “As long as no parliamentary reform is implemented – decreasing the number of committees and increasing the Knesset’s professionalism – we will continue to be disappointed by the quality of its work.”