The 64 members of the Knesset’s coalition bloc – who constitute a clear majority in the 120-seat parliament – voted unanimously to approve the measure. All opposition bloc members—who constitute a minority — boycotted the vote. “A majority in the Knesset that wants agreements was defeated by extreme MKs who decided to change our identity, who want to take us to an abyss of hatred, to divide us, and to turn us against each other,” Gantz said in his statement.
“Those who think they won today will soon find this was a grave mistake for us all,” he said.
Gantz went on to claim that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “preferred the political needs of [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben Gvir and the whims of [Justice Minister Yariv] Levin over Israel’s diplomacy, its security, over Israeli society and democracy.” “Anyone who saw the defense minister beg the justice minister [to compromise] understands how badly Israel now needs a responsible adult,” Gantz contended.
“This is not how you run a country. Netanyahu has failed. This whole government is a resonant failure.
Gantz insisted the remaining elements of the planned judicial reforms are actually “legislation to politicize judicial appointments, override the High Court, harm the gatekeepers, and oust the attorney general.”
The former defense minister went on to encourage anarchists to continue their disruptive activities aimed at destroying daily life in the Jewish State, claiming the protests – many of which have turned violent – “are our hope". “We may have lost a battle, but we will win the war,” Gantz maintained. He urged IDF reservists to continue their service in the military, in direct opposition to calls from anarchist organizers who have encouraged reservists to abandon their service on the altar of pressuring the government.
“Everything approved here will be canceled and erased from the book of laws, sooner or later,” Gantz promised.
[…] Over the years, there has been a frequent call for judicial and electoral revision. A few examples:
“Electoral Reform for Israel; A Realistic Proposal”[ 1988]
“Facts about the Israeli System of Government “[2003]
“Israel’s Election System Is No” Good [April1, 2009]
“The secret behind Israel’s dysfunctional political system” [Jan 23, 2013]
“Is Israel a true democracy? “[May 15, 2014]
“Judicial Reform Will Remain on Israel’s Agenda Even after Netanyahu Leaves Office”. [June 12, 2019][…]
The Supreme Court in Israel.
The key figure in Israel’s “constitutional revolution” that expanded the role of its Supreme Court is Aharon Barak, who served as a member of the court from 1978 to 1995 and as its president from 1995 to 2006. In a 2011 law review article about Barak and the court, 2 Israeli scholars concluded that “the drop in public esteem of the Supreme Court had much to do with Barak’s emphasis on judicial discretion."
"In the eyes of the public, the justices, who were not elected by the Israeli public, were using [subjective] discretion and their personal ‘agenda’ to intervene in the defense and economic policies of the elected arms of government – the Knesset and the cabinet. “
Judge Richard Posner, who served on the US Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, wrote in 2007 that “what Barak created out of whole cloth was a degree of judicial power undreamed of by our most aggressive Supreme Court justices.”
It is under Barak that there evolved no need for standing in Israel - anyone can file a suit against someone, even if he is not directly involved - and he famously said that everything is considred judciable, whether or not the courts have expert knowledge of the subject, thus deciding on military, medicinal, religious and other matters by using standards ignoring claims of experts in the partiular fields. […]
[2] Israel’s Proposed Judicial Reforms Aren’t “Extreme” [January 29, 2023- by Richard A. Epstein]:
Hundreds of Israeli economists signed an “emergency letter” on Jan. 25 warning that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed judicial reforms will lead to economic calamity for the country. The authors worry about putting “great political power in the hands of a ruling group without strong brakes and balances.”
Irony! Many of these economists supported political parties that opposed Mr. Netanyahu’s free-market reforms while he was finance minister from 2003 to 2005. Netanyahu's reforms have allowed the country’s economy to boom for almost 2 decades.
Israel’s unelected Supreme Court – not the Knesset, its elected parliament – is the branch of government that actually holds unchecked political power. Rather than endangering economic growth, present day proposed judicial reforms provide a necessary check on the one court in the Western world wih nearly unlimited power to dictate economic and political life (In fact, many foreign investors sign on contracts with Israel out of the Jewish State because of the Supreme Court's subjective decision that the words of a contract are less binding that what the signers meant to say, ed.).
The economists mischaracterize Mr. Netanyahu’s proposed reforms as an attack on the independence of the judiciary. But judicial independence does not mean a judiciary independent from constraints. As it stands, the Israeli Supreme Court’s dominance over the Knesset is unrivaled by any other parliamentary or presidential system.
[3] Has the Israeli left lost its mind? [February 21, 2023-by Jack Engelhard]:
Apparently, these protestors are Leftists first, Israelis second. Here in America you’re thinking -----they’re like that over there, too? Impossible. Yes, Leftists are Leftists, same everywhere. As if Israel doesn’t have enough enemies to cite the latest Biden betrayal at the UN, a time when Israel should rally as one and indivisible.
I did not foresee the coming of a 13th tribe, Liberal/Leftists. Nor that they’d be frothing at the mouth just so. Their anger against any changes being made, or even suggested, is proof that the High Court is their Daddy. It’s where they go for assurance that many pro-Israel measures being passed by a Conservative Legislature will be overturned by a Liberal High Court. But sensible jurists everywhere agree that in Israel it’s the High Court that has run amok. Time, they say, to curb the High Court from its excesses. […]
No comments:
Post a Comment