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Israel and the Supreme Court

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  • Israel and the Supreme Court

    Have been watching things blow up in Israel the last few days as right wing and ultra-nationalist parties try to limit their Supreme Court. Netanyahu calls the demonstrators anarchists meaning a strong majority of the population is now anarchists. So now we will get to see if the population can get this stopped. National wide strikes, Money moving out of the country. Stock market down. International companies warning of consequences. Military vowing to refuse call up to the Reserve. Two things I see:

    1.) Netanyahu is an absolute disgrace to Israel and previous Prime Ministers such as Ben-Gurion, Meir, and Rabin.

    2.) If this stands I expect in five years or less Israel will become the Jewish version of Iran given what the religious ultra-nationalists want.


    Israel is in a pivotal moment of crisis, triggered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to weaken the independence of the country's judicial system and make its judges more subject to political control.

    Netanyahu postponed the final vote of the legislation that had been slated for Monday. In a national address lasting around seven minutes, he said he would hold discussions and bring the legislation up for a vote sometime after lawmakers return from a recess at the end of April.

    The prime minister said he took the step to avoid causing a rift in his country. But as Netanyahu himself recently acknowledged, a rift already has formed.

    Three months of protests grew even more frenzied Sunday after Netanyahu fired his defense minister, Yoav Gallant — the only government minister who publicly opposed the judicial overhaul. Many thousands of protesters blocked highways and burned bonfires in Tel Aviv's main artery all night long.

    Protesters thronged the streets around parliament on Monday as the right-wing ruling coalition prepared to hold a final vote on the legislation. Then came word that Netanyahu would put the plan on hold.

    The unrest sparked deep security concerns — over what might happen within Israeli society, but also over potential vulnerability to Israel's enemies.

    What is happening right now?

    The crisis reflects a growing lack of trust in Netanyahu, leading civil society to erupt in a way never before seen.

    Israel's largest trade union, Histadrut, called a national strike for Monday, prompting many government closures, including by Israel's embassies in the U.S. and elsewhere. Departing flights were grounded. Hospitals canceled non-urgent treatments. Universities canceled classes. Thousands of military reservists were threatening to boycott duty.

    Minutes after Netanyahu spoke, Histadrut's leader, Arnon Bar-David, ended the general strike.

    On Sunday, the flashpoint was when Netanyahu ousted Gallant. Almost immediately, a Tel Aviv highway was overwhelmed when a spontaneous protest involving thousands of people erupted in the middle of the road.

    "The prime minister doesn't understand that he's disconnected from what's going on," a protester named Yanai Or told NPR. "He's not doing enough to calm the energy up. That's very scary because it could lead to civil war or something similar."

    The turmoil eventually prompted Netanyahu to freeze the legislation. But his new plan isn't likely to satisfy all of his critics, as it reportedly includes a promise to create a national guard controlled by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party. Can you spell Revolutionary Guard?

    What would Netanyahu's plan change?

    Netanyahu's government thinks the Supreme Court is too liberal and blocks policies promoted by ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox politicians.

    Under pressure from protests, Netanyahu's coalition already tabled the most controversial part of the plan, which would give the ruling government the power to override the Supreme Court.

    The push for more control widely is seen as a preemptive step toward enacting a controversial legislative agenda. The government wants to pass laws prioritizing religion and nationalism, but the way things stand now, the courts likely would say such laws infringe on basic rights.

    It also would protect Netanyahu himself. Last week the government passed a law blocking the ability of the judiciary to declare the prime minister unfit for office, due to a conflict of interest between his own corruption trial and his attempts to interfere in the courts.

    The government also wants to give itself a more direct hand in selecting the country's judges — a process that involves a judicial selection committee. Under the proposed changes, the government would get the decisive vote over some of the justices appointed to the Supreme Court. Currently, politicians have a minority vote on the selection committee.

    Critics say the plan would alter the balance of power by weakening the independence of the courts — an institution with sweeping authority in Israel.

    Why is the Israeli judiciary so powerful?

    Courts play a key role in deciding how people live, because Israel does not have a written constitution and it never established a Bill of Rights that guarantees essential rights and freedoms. Instead, the country operates according to a set of basic laws.

    The courts decide a number of controversial and far-reaching issues, from Israeli settlement operations to LGBTQ freedoms and rights for Palestinian citizens, as well as ruling on issues in Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories.

    If Israel's courts are undermined, international courts might no longer recognize their full authority — and the fallout from that includes the potential that Israeli soldiers could become more liable to being named in war crimes cases.

    Doesn't Netanyahu face criminal court cases right now?

    Yes, and it's possible that the Supreme Court could eventually rule on them. The prime minister is on trial for three criminal cases alleging corruption. All of them have been bundled together.

    Who are the protesters?

    The plan to dramatically reshape the judiciary has drawn out thousands and thousands of protesters, many of them liberal middle-class and mainstream Israelis who aren't normally involved in street demonstrations.

    They say that their way of life is in danger and that women's rights could suddenly be limited under the new government plan. Women have marched in red robes and white bonnets like in The Handmaid's Tale — images that were even tweeted out by the novel's author, Margaret Atwood.

    Protests have been going on for months now, but public anger grew more intense earlier this month after Netanyahu called the protesters anarchists and police used stun grenades and water cannons to break up gatherings and marches.

    What could happen next?

    The immediate crisis is somewhat abated by the prime minister's decision to call off Monday's vote, but it's unclear if Netanyahu can hold together his coalition. By freezing the legislation, Netanyahu risked some of his hardline coalition partners quitting, toppling the government and leaving the prime minister's political future in question.

    If Israel's parliament, the Knesset, ever adopts the court overhaul, the Supreme Court could move to overturn legislation that tries to limit the judiciary. That would set up a potential constitutional crisis, with two branches of government refusing to agree on what the law is.

    It's also unknown what kind of deal could be worked out over the judiciary. When Netanyahu rejected a proposed compromise to his judicial plan around 10 days ago, President Isaac Herzog said Israel stood at the edge of the abyss, warning of an all-out civil war.

    https://www.npr.org/2023/03/27/11662...-court-control

  • #2
    What Ben Gurion and others have built is in tatters.
    “Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.”
    Mark Twain

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Albany Rifles View Post
      What Ben Gurion and others have built is in tatters.
      Could be a lesson there for the politicians of some other nation (no names mentioned).
      If you are emotionally invested in 'believing' something is true you have lost the ability to tell if it is true.

      Comment


      • #4
        Israel’s judicial overhaul sparks military crisis as number of refusing reservists grows

        CNN —
        As Israel plunges deeper into crisis after the country’s parliament passed the first bill of a controversial judicial overhaul, thousands of Israeli army reservists – the backbone of the Israeli military – are threatening not to show up for work. And Israel’s leaders are sounding alarms about the country’s readiness for war.

        The law that came into effect on Wednesday took away the court’s power to veto government decisions based on them being “unreasonable.” Millions opposed the change, according to opinion polls, which critics said would erode the independence of the courts and harm Israel’s democracy.

        “At the current point in time, the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is competent,” IDF Chief Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters on Tuesday, but he acknowledged that the country’s military readiness could be affected.

        “If reservists do not show up for a long time, there will be damage to the army’s competence. It is a gradual process that will be affected according to the presence of the reservists,” he said.

        The threat is unprecedented in its scope, experts say, and the military has pleaded with reservists to remain in their posts.

        “The IDF needs you – only together will we protect our common home,” IDF Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi said Tuesday, addressing reservists who refused to show up for service.

        Nearly 10,000 military reservists said before the passage of the controversial “reasonableness” bill on Monday that they would refuse to volunteer for duty if it was passed. And the number of refusers is growing, according to Hagari.

        US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke by phone with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and reiterated the US’ commitment to Israel’s security. But he also said that “broad consensus through political dialogue” was critical to maintain democracy.

        Chuck Freilich, a senior researcher at The Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv who served for over 20 years in Israel’s national security establishment, said that Israel is at a historical “inflection point,” in which “extreme measures may have to be taken to endure Israel’s fundamental character of democracy.”

        Speaking about reservists refusing, Freilich said that “on the one hand, it is admirable.” But on the other hand, he said, “it is a horrible thing for the IDF.” It was remarkable, he added, that one of the world’s better militaries “is threatening to come apart at the seams over domestic changes.”

        When the vote passed on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the IDF to “stay out of any political controversy,” saying that “the call for refusal harms the security of all citizens of the country.”

        The ‘backbone’ of Israel’s military

        A country that went to war shortly after its founding in 1948, Israel has fought seven wars and engaged in several other smaller conflicts with its neighbors.

        Every Israeli over the age of 18 who is Jewish, Druze or Circassian must serve in the military, an institution that is deeply entrenched in many Israelis’ sense of identity and nationhood. Palestinian citizens of Israel and ultra-Orthodox Jews are exempt from swerving, among some others.

        Yiftach Golov, a disabled IDF veteran and a leading member of Brothers and Sisters in Arms, the IDF reservists and veterans protest movement, said that “by definition, the reservists are the backbone of the IDF.”

        “They comprise the majority, the bigger fraction of the IDF,” Golov told CNN, adding that their strength is not only in numbers, but also in their higher expertise.

        After completing their mandatory service, soldiers can remain part of the country’s reserve army – a force of some 400,000 soldiers who can at any moment be called to serve. Israelis can remain part of the reserve until their forties or sometimes beyond.

        Among those threatening to quit are more than 1,000 reservists in the Israeli Air Force, whom Golov describes as one the military’s “main, major forces,” defining its aerial abilities. The Israeli Air Force makes up one third of the IDF’s manpower.

        “We feel like we are doing the right thing, and that we are fighting for the democracy of Israel,” one reservist, who has been volunteering for 23 years, told CNN at a protest in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

        Another reservist called on the government to “stop the madness, stop the destruction of the army.”

        The military remains a huge part of Israeli society, even while that influence has faded a bit over the years, Freilich said, with more than half of Israeli society today having had some experience in the IDF. For many Israelis, military service is a rite of passage.

        Freilich says that reservists are likely to return to duty if there is a real national security threat, but their protest nonetheless harms the IDF.

        “This isn’t a refusal to serve,” he said. “These are people who are totally committed to Israel’s defense, and if there was some sort of security emergency tomorrow, they will all report for duty instantaneously.”

        “What they’re saying is that this crisis is so important there is a higher morality they have to report to,” he added.

        Volatile surroundings

        Israel’s domestic crisis takes place amid increased tensions at its borders.

        The country is still formally at war with several of its neighbors, including Lebanon and Syria. Violence regularly flares up between Israeli forces and Palestinians in East Jerusalem and in the occupied West Bank as well as with Palestinian militants in Gaza.

        After years of calm, tensions also rose across Israel’s northern border with Lebanon earlier this year, when Israel and militants in southern Lebanon exchanged a barrage of rockets in April. The escalation was the worst between the two sides since 2006. Israel blamed Hamas for the rockets.

        Some of Israel’s enemies have been watching the crisis closely.

        Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Monday in a televised speech that Israel is “on a path of collapse, fragmentation, and disappearance,” Reuters reported.

        “Today, in particular, is the worst day in the history of the entity (Israel), as some of its people say.”

        Netanyahu and others have warned of the dangers of not showing up for military duty, but Golov of Brothers and Sisters in Arms says that this is a “divide and conquer” tactic by the prime minister.

        The government will try to create a sense of “an opposite world,” said Golov, “when the patriots become traitors.”

        Freilich said that Nasrallah, Iran, Gaza and the West Bank, would find “a lot of joy in watching Israel potentially tear itself apart.”

        “But the problem is not with the protesters. The problem is with the government and the prime minister that caused this,” he said. “He (Netanyahu) is willing to pay any price to move forward with this.”

        Golov sees reservists threatening not to serve as a sign of something much bigger.

        “Now it is only the beginning,” Golov said. “But you will see this movement now penetrating into the masses of the ground brigades, also known as the army.”

        https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/26/middl...ntl/index.html

        _________________________________________________ ________________________

        I fully agree on protecting the democracy but have a problem protecting a theocracy that some now want.

        Interestingly, the ones who push for theocracy, expansion of Israel, and talk about protecting the citizens are also the ones who get out of serving.
        Last edited by tbm3fan; 26 Jul 23,, 19:26.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by tbm3fan View Post
          [B] ......

          I fully agree on protecting the democracy but have a problem protecting a theocracy that some now want.

          Interestingly, the ones who push for theocracy, expansion of Israel, and talk about protecting the citizens are also the ones who get out of serving.
          On top of which only about half the male Ultra Orthodox Jews in Israel have jobs despite having large families to support (up to 12 or more children) and instead receive government unemployment and family benefits while undertaking religious instruction. Not exactly a recipe for long term economic success in a country where other sectors of the population earn most of the income, pay most of the taxes and have far fewer children.
          Last edited by Monash; 01 Aug 23,, 01:10.
          If you are emotionally invested in 'believing' something is true you have lost the ability to tell if it is true.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Monash View Post

            On top of which only about half of Ultra Orthodox Jews in Israel have jobs despite having large families to support (up to 12 or more children) and instead receive government unemployment and family benefits while undertaking religious instruction instead. Not exactly a recipe for long term economic success is a country where other sectors of the population earn most of the income, pay most of the taxes and have far fewer children.
            No work, no taxes, ward of the state you could say, no draft, no serve in the IDF like everyone else who is required and their political parties demand more say in the government and the state over the rest of the population. If I'm the rest of the population it is time to jettison them. They want to push more Palestinians out and then leave it to the rest of the population, in the IDF, to defend them.

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