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| One of Israel's biggest protests ever! (BBC) |
The protests have been continuous and passionate. Among others - protestors included a wide variety of Israeli citizens. including members of the high tech sector, members of the military, members of the intelligence community, academics, business people, doctors, and politicians. Religious and secular alike. People that I would describe as the heart of Israeli society. Many of whom are threatening to leave the country in a so-called brain drain.
It would seem as though the entire country is opposed to the legislation just passed. But that is not the case. The judicial overhaul is supported by a substantial number of people on the right who have have had their own pro government demonstrations. But it seems that the protests against reform are by far much larger and more intense.
They believe the democracy itself is at stake. I do not believe that is accurate. It is more correct to say that the duly elected majority will still rule. A majority whose representatives were chosen in a free and fair election. A government that exists only as long as it has a ruling coalition consisting of a majority of the Knesset’s 120 elected members. If 5 members of the current government consisting of 64 seats decide to leave the coalition for any reason, there will be a new election. In which case recent polls say that left will return to power. And in any case a new election will follow in a tmely fashion about 4 years from now. That sounds like a democracy to me.
It is more correct to say that some of Israel’s protected minority population might suffer since their rights may be denied by the ruling majority. Protecting that is an integral part of a democratic society. Because even a democracy like Israel can end up being cruel to protected minorities by dint of a majority vote.
Any fair minded protestor should admit that Israel will still be a democracy even if the current government passes all parts of its judicial reform package. But they will be right about the increased possibility of protected minorities losing their rights. That is surely worthy of a protest.
It’s true that the vast majority of the Israel people were happy with the status quo. But it is also true that the Supreme Court was the branch of the Israeli government that had full control of Knesset legislation. They had the ability to strike down any law passed by the Knesset. For any reason they chose. If it did not pass the test of ‘Reasonableness’ they would declare it ‘unconstitutional’ Which in Israel means violating its basic laws.
However, not everyone agreed that the courts decision were based on their own definition of ‘Reasonableness’. Which may not have been the liberal definition of the Court but thier own conservative definition.
Nevertheless the guiding philosophy of the Court was perpetually liberal because Israel’s Supreme Court justices were chosen by a committee made up by its likeminded people selected by the Court itself.
Most democracies in the world do not concede power to a court over which they never have any control. Not even the US. Here - justices are chosen by the Executive Bbranch. Which could at any given time be liberal or conservative. They are certainly not appointed by a committee of the Court’s own people. A system of an all powerful court perpetually selecting justices with their own liberal biases is not democratic at all.
The Israeli public may have been happy with (or perhaps more correctly – complacent about) the way their Supreme Court operated. But once reform is in the offing, they should recognize and concede that the system needed some serious tweaking. To that end - a much fairer way to appoint Supreme Court justices would be to mimic the way the US does it. The Executive Branch in power chooses candidates who are then vetted by the legislature (Knesset).
(That the Biden administration is unhappy with this turn of events is irrelevant. Israel is an important ally to the US. The relationship is unbreakable. And in any case, Biden has no business interfering in Israel’s domestic policies any more than Netanyahu has interfering in US domestic policies. Unless there is an existential issue at stake - like Iran’s nuclear ambitions and its express desire to wjpe Israel off the map. The US has no such existential dog in this hunt.)
As noted, the bill passed. 64-0. All 64 members of the ruling coalition voted in favor, Opposition members boycotted the vote.
Here’s the thing, though. Right or wrong -when there is so much strong opposition by so many people (millions?) all over the country, the government should not have gone down this road.
When reserve soldiers are daring to boycott their obligations to serve their country (first time in its history!) it endangers the country’s security. Perhaps its very existence. When so many doctors threaten to leave the country, it endangers the health of its people. When high-tech entrepreneurs (high-tech being one of Israel’s most important sectors of their economy) threatens to leave the country, it endangers Israel’s economic health.
The Netanyahu government cannot shove a change opposed at this magnitude down the throats of the Israeli people. No matter how justified they think their reforms are. What they needed was some sort of compromise that would have made the balance of power between the Knesset and the Judiciary more equitable. They needed at least some – if not most of the opposition to agree on that kind of compromise. I’m not sure either side was willing to do that.
The result is chaos and despair on the part of a lot of Israeli citizens. That is unacceptable. The Netanyahu government needs to something about that if it is to retain even a modicum of concern about Israel’s future. At the same time the opposition needs to do something about it too. For the same reason. People of good will ought to not insist on their ideals at he expense of the very existence of the state. If that means the ruling coalition, if that means they will lose power, so be it. If they really care about their country - if it comes to that they should be willing to give it up.
Does passage of the reform bill mean its too late? No. They can vote again to repeal it. And then hopefully both sdies can negotiate in good faith and come up with a workable compromise.
Tat said, what happens next is up for grabs. I just hope Israel is not irreparably damaged in the meantime.