An “UNREASONABLE" Supreme Court

 Where it began

Prof. Kantrovich:  The truth is that the political left has used this judicial power to stop all conservative, proudly Jewish policies.Op-ed.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/367668

"Israelis' anti-democracy' stems from the fact that Israeli democracy isn't delivering democracy's chief good: enabling the public to influence policy. The only way to change this is by finally letting Israelis elect their MK's directly."[Analysis from Israel - Evelyn Gordon, June 9, 2011]

IN 2009, Hamizrachi published David M. Weinberg's "Curb the Imperious Israeli Supreme Court." It commences, by informing us that Israel's Court has advanced beyond the limits of "reasonable" intervention in Israeli political and public life with its ever-expanding scope of super-subjective decision making.

For close to 27 years from the term of then-Court President [Chief Justice] Aharon Barak, the Court effectively stripped Israeli law of any inherent meaning and created complete legal mayhem. It allowed High Court Justices to apply their own sensibilities to issues before the court; to socially re-engineer Israeli society - in their enlightened image.

Apparently, the authoritarian jargon meant the Court could move in any direction it pleased, as were the Court's "broad interpretations" of law to fit its own perceptions of "values", "balance", and "equality."What resulted was a favoring of the liberal side of the political spectrum. Then there were matters when the Court could decide what is reasonable versus “unreasonable."

And thus, the Court ruled over the years with a liberal fist on the Palestinian Arab residency rights in Israel, rights of foreign converts to citizenship (the court allowed itself to dispense with halakhic problems in the Jewish state), draft deferments and stipends for yeshiva students, commerce and road closings on Shabbat and more.

The Court found it "unreasonable" for religious Jews to be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount because this would disturb the Arabs and require a massive police presence. On the other hand, the Court found it "reasonable" to allow the Women of the Wall to pray in a manner offensive to most worshippers at the Western Wall despite the disturbance involved and the massive police presence required to make it feasible.

When the High Court of Justice struck down the 2017 Settlements Regularization as "unconstitutional", because it impinged on the (sometimes unproven) land rights of absentee Palestinian Arabs and cash compensation was not sufficient, this was considered acceptable. But it was in order to crush the rights of Israeli Jews and expel them from their homes in Gush Katif with a few pennies of compensation. In fact, the Court refused to intervene in that matter.

Banning the right-wing "Otzma Le-Yisrael" party from running in 3 successive election campaigns was considered "reasonable" by the Central Elections Committee. Not so, in the case of disallowing the openly pro-terrorist candidates like Heba Yazbak and Hanin Zoabi. This was considered “unreasonable".

Arutz 7 posted Caroline Glick's astute thoughts, "It's Not About Democracy" on February 11, 2023. By way of introduction, she remarks, "The Left does not like democracy but prefers its oligarchy [a small group controlling the country]. Consider the following:

[1] In a past address to the Kohelet Forum, opposition leader Yair Lapid set out a position on judicial activism completely aligned with Levin's package. Lapid's remarks laid the foundations of the current reform.

[2]The process in which the democratically elected Knesset and government advance proposals that match the pledges they made to voters is described as illegitimate and anti-democratic.

[3]Speaking before the Knesset plenary , Likud MK Ariel Kallner noted how the leftist establishment in politics, academia and the media are using the exact similar talking points they used multiple times in the past.

The current hysteria and threats of violence are driven by the central role the Supreme Court plays in preserving leftist power and privilege. It is dominated by ideologically rigid and radical justices. This is what Levin's reform will correct.

Professor Eugene Kantorovich offers a different perspective, a somewhat positive one. It is entitled, “Israel's Judicial Reform will Strengthen Israel's Democracy not Destroy it", authored by Avi Abelow.

-It commences with "The new government's proposed judiciary reform has provoked pushback from the Biden administration and others on the ground that it threatens the rule of law. This case is a timely illustration that the opposite is true. No judiciary in the world has as far reaching powers over government as Israel’s.

-Israel doesn't have a constitution. Judicial review -- the ability to declare that a law violates a country's constitution - is an American invention. Over the years, the Israeli court engaged in a power grab.

-It employed the doctrine of "reasonableness" as a free standing basis to block government action, including the government's makeup. And the court has claimed authority to decide whether any new Basic Laws, or amendments to old ones, are valid, ending the charade that it is subordinate to law.

-The reform proposals wouldn't undermine judicial independence and would make the Israeli Court more like its American counterpart. One measure would abolish the 'reasonableness' and limit the court to blocking government action that violates the law, not its policy notions. Another would increase the Knesset's involvement in judicial appointments, but still comes far short of America's purely political appointment process.

-Israel's Supreme Court Claims a Veto on Political Appointments. The intervention is a timely illustration of why the new government seeks to reform the tribunal.

Professor Kantorovich continues, "The truth is that the political left has used this judicial power to stop all conservative, proudly Jewish policies meant to strengthen the Jewish state of Israel, and they are pulling out all the scare tactics to stop themselves from losing that undemocratic power.”

At the time, two global companies withdrew their financial investments from Israel as a result of the scare tactics of the political left. It appears as if they do not get their way, and accept the rules of democracy, then the whole country can go down the tubes.

However, as Jack Engelhard concluded, 'The sky is falling' approach," that is, to losing Democracy, is a Deep State fabrication that originated in the United States."

The headlines below are representative of daily media negative response to Israel's newly elected government.

"Blinken Warns Israel's New Foreign Minister on Policies That Endanger 2-State Solution."

"Tens of thousands of left-wing-protesters rally outside Knesset against judicial reform."

"Israelis protest government's judicial overhaul plans."

Haaretz and the New York Times gloated over this. The mayor of Tel Aviv, Ron Huldai, elected not to be left behind, said, "Democracy can be restored only via bloodshed."

In the words of Rabbi Berel Wein, "Hatred breeds zealotry and zealotry invites and justifies violence and discord. Unfortunately human beings are influenced and trained to hate and demonize others who are different than they are or who even have different views and opinions on matters both large and small.”

ALSO:

How Biden subverts Israeli democracy

The administration backs the Israeli left’s campaign to thwart the will of Israeli voters.Op-ed.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/367656