Your fellow judges are hiding, scared to stand up, and basically emotionally paralysed. You must do so alone - and you can. Op-ed.
What is obvious is that the Israeli Supreme Court is playing a game, one which is essentially dishonest and self-serving. Having for the first time in history decided to have a full bench of fifteen judges sit to decide on the “Reasonableness Law”, the reason is clear in that when their already pre-made decision is announced, which will be to cancel the law,- which shows how unreasonable they actually are - no one judge including Esther Hayut can or will be blamed. Sitting and ponderously listening to the petitions submitted to them is pure legal theatre. It is obvious that the Supreme Court have conspired and discussed the “Reasonableness Law” long before they sit and decided what their response and verdict will be.
I had such an experience. I had developed a comparative computer quotation system for the Insurance Industry in the 1990’s. Details aside, I had approached the top management of a bank who instructed their insurance division to meet with me for a demonstration. I assumed I would see the manager and maybe one or two of his assistant managers. Instead the room was packed with sixteen people for the very reason that no one wanted to be blamed for the already made decision, which was negative. I merely relate the experience without much discussion.
By now we should all know the history of how the Supreme Court under Aharon Barak staged a coup by stealth in the mid-90’s, which eventually lead to a judicial tyranny. Those with knowledge and eyes to see, will know that the protests, whilst clad in patriotism, flying Israel’s flags and screaming about the proposed judicial reforms, are in reality the political left’s stormtroopers, political fodder and sheep, all intent on staging a coup to remove the hated Netanyahu and vent their frustration at losing the election late in 2022.
So much for their “devotion” to democracy and misguided rhetoric about living under a dictatorship when the dictatorship they are currently living under is that of the unelected self-appointed Supreme Court at odds with the Knesset because politically the court is left whilst the new coalition government is right.
When I observe what is going on in Israel right now, I am reminded of Charlie Chaplin in “The Great Dictator”, a parody of Adolf Hitler. It is a 1940 American anti-war political satire black comedy film written, directed, produced, scored by, and starring the great British comedian Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin's film advanced a stirring condemnation of the German and Italian dictators Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, as well as fascism, antisemitism, and the Nazis.
In it he parodied Hitler with a kind of gibberish with German sounding suffixes added to English words in the dialogue. In it the Hitler character states that “Democracia shtunks!” - and that essentially is what the American financed and encouraged Israeli left, in their “great virtue”, are actually screaming as democracy is only acceptable when they are in control and when manipulated and defined by themselves. That is not democracy, my dear clots!
So I imagine a fictional character, Haim Jankel, arriving in Israel and says to the protesters, “take me to your leader”. To which the reply is “what leader?” To your real leaders. I don’t mean your government leaders. I mean to you, the protesters real leaders. Your protest leaders are generally amorphous and unknown. I want your real leaders with the power to control and possibly stop your protests”.
“You mean Ehud Barak?”
“No, he is just a trouble maker and an embittered former leader completely out of sync”.
“Then who do you mean?” believe the real leaders of the protests are hiding behind your protests and leaving you to create unrest and chaos in the country. I believe the real leaders of your protests are Aharon Barak, Esther Hayut and the Supreme Court judges who could, if they had the decency and courage, stand up and say to all of you,
“We acknowledge that in what we did with and on the Supreme Court went too far. We looked down on what we saw in the Knesset and thought we were more than a cut above most of them. We were superior in every way and had the knowledge, education, training and common sense to make the right decisions for the benefit of the country, which we believed the Knesset was not qualified to do. We were the guardians of the country, actually the real rulers. We were generally ad idem, homogeneous as a group and stable, whilst the Knesset was made up of sparring and arguing people who come and go and at times have been neutered by having no majority and have had to go to election after election.
Furthermore, we didn’t like the political direction that a dominant coalition took and takes. It simply doesn’t fit with our liberal views. We know better.
However, we now acknowledge we have gone too far in our taking control. We acknowledge that there should be a balance between the Supreme Court the Executive and the Knesset. We propose that we sit down with the government and negotiate this balance. That is, after all, a reasonable way to go.” Whilst Esther Hayut is shortly about to retire, her ego wants to leave a legacy. I suggest, Justice Hayut, taht if you want a true legacy,you must disabuse herself of notions of grandeur. Do what is right and not what you want Put Israel before yourself. Look at the bigger picture. You know the proposed judicial reforms are generally sensible. In negotiations you can tweak them and adjust them to everyone’s satisfaction and to the ultimate benefit of Israel and not the misguided egos and narcissism of Aharon Barak and others.
In addition Madam Chief Justice, you should know and be infinitely aware of the immediate dangers Israel faces. You should know your hiding and saying basically nothing has gone too far and in doing so has reached into Israel’s vital and existential self-defence by allowing politics to invade the Israeli Air Force and military. There should be no politics in the military whatsoever. The trouble with people like judges is that they come from a profession filled with arrogance and self-assuredness. I have always looked at senior lawyers, what we call Advocates or Barristers in the English world, as the world’s finest trade union. They get paid and are guaranteed remuneration no matter what by the general lawyers. In the English type legal system, if a lawyer does not pay the fees due to an advocate, a senior council, then he/she is blocked from briefing any other advocate.
It is from this arrogant, cocksure and secure profession that judge are appointed. Judges in turn are completely protected and if they make it to the Supreme Court, even more so. There they sit way above the rabble, the lesser beings, and daily sit in judgement of the masses.
I was in a court case for eight years. Had five judges including what we call the Judge President of the division and whilst I was fortunate to win, I got to see every one of these judges in action. I saw the bowing and kowtowing. I saw how the judge’s made mistakes and saw the fear in the advocate’s to not upset or correct the judge. I saw how the lawyers and advocates were always keen to be curry favour with the judge, not for their current case, but always for some future case that did not exist.
I saw in the judgement how, even though in my favour, much was left out which opened the way for further court action in attempts to overturn the original judgement. I experienced endlessly going to court to force discovery. By the way, the case was against South Africa’s largest bank. I saw how there was a built in bias in the courts in favour of the banks, after all, banks are such upright institutions with a fiduciary responsibility to be honest. I got a judgement where every one of the bank’s witnesses were guilty of perjury including the chairman of the bank and the evidence that sank their case was in their own director’s minutes which they hid. By the way, the bank is a public company and its director’s minute should be easily available. Yet I saw incredible ego and self-interest in the judges.
In this there is a lesson for all, and in this case, Israel’s Supreme Court. Judges are human and subject to all the frailties that human flesh is heir to. To Esther Hayut, Aharon Barak in particular and the silent, regimented and fearful judges of the Supreme Court who keep quiet and say nothing, stand up and be counted! Show some common sense and courage to put a stop to the ridiculous protests. Sit down with the current government and opposition and negotiate a fair and balanced system. Why are you at war with your own people and country?
met Aharon Barak some years ago when he gave a lecture at UCLA in Los Angeles. I was at that time chairman of the Zionist Federation in Cape Town and also a national vice chairman in South Africa. I had in mind to possibly invite him to South Africa. When I met him, I took an instant dislike to him and acknowledge those were my personal feelings. I decided against inviting him. Subsequently I did some research on him and some of his cases and how he deliberately manipulated cases to stage his stealth judicial coup.
One of the victims of Barak’s legal shenanigans was Yoav Galant who had a private dispute on his moshav regarding an access road to his house. This was strictly between Galant and his moshav. At the same time Galant was nominated to be the next Chief of Staff in the IDF. A radical left NGO with no standing in the case, threatened to take the matter to court. Galant’s nomination was withdrawn. This was a direct result of Barak’s deliberate fiddling with the law. In no other country can anyone with no standing or involvement with an issue take a party to court.
I once more call on Aharon Barak and Esther Hayut to stand up and call a halt to the protests in all its forms including in the Air Force and IDF.
Do it now! Show leadership. Show courage. Do what is right.
I must also mention the hypocrisy and ridiculous stance of Yair Lapid who was for judicial reforms before losing the election and suddenly morphed into an irresponsible rabble rouser and cheer leader driven by his misguided ego and emotions instead of common sense.
In all of this it cannot be ignored that the Biden/Obama regime backs the protesters trying to take down the Israeli government, not only with encouragement and support, but with precise instructions and huge financial backing. The tragedy is that the Israeli left totally emulates and copies the American left. It is a madness. It is incredible how most have the same story. Their source of information is extremely limited and they blindly follow one narrative without informing themselves or taking the trouble to acquire the knowledge of what the issues really are. However, if the issue is to get rid of Netanyahu, who they irrationally hate, then the issue is simple. There is no rational argument or discussion that can be had with these people and a mob mentality takes over.
American interference and political grandstanding on an internal Israeli issue is ridiculous. Israel is not the 51st state of America, nor is it a vassal state. It is America’s greatest ally and also happens to be strategically placed at the centre of the world and in the Middle East with everything that implies. The USA’s stance is completely hypocritical. In the USA, the American left, definitely including Biden, hardly a good reference, are proposing more political control over their judiciary whilst excoriating the Israeli government for wanting exactly same in Israel. The recently elected government in Israel was democratically elected by the majority of Israelis. That is democracy in action and in every way!
Bringing violence, disruption, blockades and protests in an attempt to overthrow the elected government is third world nonsense and a disgrace, freedom of speech and all the obvious burdens that democracy and modern life allows. This is not the way to solve problems or issues. Emotions running rampant with ideological nonsense and hogwash has led to social polarisation which Israel certainly does not need at this time, especially at this time.
If all these people are so concerned about the country, how does this concern not reach into the military defence of the country when they have to be blind not to see the threats that surround Israel as well as from within? Politics should immediately fall away when the country is under the constant threat it is and now especially from Hezbollah in the north, which will be accompanied by attacks from Gaza and the fifth column inside Israel. Skilled pilots should stick to their last. Why put political issues and arguments before the vital existential defence of their only country? Whilst I admire and am proud of our Air force, which means the people who fly and maintain the aircraft, I think those pilots staging a political strike and refusing their duties are a disgrace. They have passed the arduous training and selection and have become skilled pilots, which is wonderful and has cost the country a fortune. This dereliction of duty is appalling.
I have to wonder about all the ex-generals, Ehud Barak and the rest. Where is their common sense? Can they not distinguish between their own egos, jealousies and what is essential for the country’s welfare? It is becoming almost a cliché to refer to the time when internal fighting between Jewish groups continued at the same time as the Romans were attacking them and intent on destroying the Temple. I don’t know whether we, the Jewish people can survive another 2,000 years of exile and dispersion. My personal instincts and desire is to defend the country before anything else. Common sense tells me I can sit down and negotiate, however frustrating and difficult that can be and also know, as a democrat, not the awful American variety, but a real democrat, that I must abide by the majority’s will whilst I can always have input, suggestions and disagreement, which is exactly what a parliament, the Knesset is for and what takes place there every day.
So our fictional character, Haim Jankel, finally found where the leaders who could immediately put a stop to all the protests and unjustified nonsense are hiding, scared to stand up, desirous of retaining their ill begotten and illegal power and basically egotistically and emotionally paralysed.
I truly mourn and am pained that after two millennium of exile and everything that came with it, the wonderful, beautiful, miraculous and precious country we established 75 years ago, finds itself split and at odds with itself for lack of anyone of courage standing up at the epicentre of the conflict. How often can one beg, pressure, ask these people, after all they are only people, like all of us, to stand up and not put themselves first?
Go down in history Esther Hayut and leave a real legacy that will be remembered ad infinitum, that you had the courage, the raw guts to stand up and bring an end to this broigus, this bitter dispute and feud. Ignore Aharon Barak, your mentor and perpetrator of this judicial overreach, and stand up bravely and alone.
Doing this, I imagine you, an Israeli flag in hand, Joan of Arc like, leading the entire Israeli population into unity and inner peace and saving Israel’s democracy from the current judicial tyranny. Be a person and leader of courage!
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/375466
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