As if it is not enough that since the state was established Israel has enemies who have tagged to her like a brand, the Jewish state also has a Supreme(High) Court that is the enemy of the state, for which it works but disobeys.
In Israel the Supreme Court is above the law while it drafts and enacts the law.
The reason to this Op-Ed is that I read in the Israeli papers: ‘Supreme Court overturns decision barring Arab MK Zoabi from running for Knesset’…that ended my silence of much dismay about the legal system in Israel.
First it is a confused system; it relies on Ottoman, British, Jordanian, and Israeli law. That is what one can call obfuscating law that has a huge margin to err.
Just about every publicized decision the Supreme Court in Israel takes makes no sense whatsoever. More so, it appears to be a clear cut subversive to the state it works for. It ignores the policy of the government and just about every law the legislative power – the Knesset – passes it does not comply with even though its job is to represent the interest of the state. The way the Supreme Court acts borders a pure case of soft tyranny.
In fact the way the Supreme Court in Israel operates is a clear case of a state within a state; the Supreme Court in Israel is its own state within the state of Israel.
In one recent case, the Supreme Court of Israel was after Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberam for alleged illegal activities for sixteen years but only now, an hour before elections, it has found “enough evidence” to make the minister resign. Is it a case in which the Supreme Court wants to affect election by weakening the Right and strengthening the Left it supports and represents?
Is Minister Lieberman more of a criminal than treasonous Arab MK Hanin Zoabi, who is a clear case of a traitor and has no interest in Israel other than to see her destruction!? I do not think so.
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein is his own head of state. Hardly any decision this legal autocrat takes makes any legal sense. He has his own agenda of a king in his own kingdom.
The headline, ‘AG rejects all petitions seeking to bar parties, Arab candidate from elections’ (http://www.timesofisrael.com/ag-rejects-all-petitions-seeking-to-bar-parties-arab-candidate-from-elections/) is disturbing if the Israeli law cannot find Zoabi to be unfit to be a member of the Knesset. According to Weinstein’s law, the Balad MK Zoabi, who, in 2010 joined the anti-Israel flotilla to Gaza, can run for Knesset again despite her actions which are ‘bordering on the forbidden’.
In Lieberman’s case, he could no longer tolerate the Supreme Court’s harassment, that went on for years, over alleged illegal activities, that unfortunately more often than not characterize political bureaucrats’ behavior, and thus he resigned.
The Declaration of Independence of Israel defines the state as a ‘Jewish state’, not as it is defined today a ‘Jewish democratic state.’ Aharon Barak, former President of the Supreme Court, made a quasi no man’s land grab and changed the original definition. If I try to change the definition structure I would face indictment. And why the Knesset did not oppose and stopped Barak? Because everyone, including the Prime Minister of Israel, are very afraid that if they act against the Supreme Court, whoever opens his mouth to object, the court will open a criminal case against him or her and thus end his or her career.
Likud MK Ofir Akunis expresses chagrin over Weinstein’s verdict regarding Zoabi, and so should every Israeli who is concerned with good citizenship of loyalty to the state.
“It is clear that much of the public in Israel has lost faith in the judges and does not recognize the legal system as a moral one. The judges have adopted an authority that was never given to them, in order to shape the public’s agenda” he claimed.
It is interesting to know that the Supreme Court Justices are appointed – not elected – by the Judicial Selection Committee. The Selection Committee is composed of nine members: Three Supreme Court Justices, including the President of the Supreme Court, two cabinet ministers, one of them being the Minister of Justice, two Knesset members, and two representatives of the Israel Bar Association. The committee is chaired by the Minister of Justice.
Though the three organs of the state-the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government-as well as the bar association, are all represented in the Judges’ Nominations Committee that is shaping the judicial body, through the manner of judicial appointment, carried out by an agreement of all the authorities together, the outcome is totally different.
Conclusion: the Supreme Court in Israel took over the country and it is forcing its rule in a dictatorial and intimidation manner. It wrongly translates and obfuscates the laws the Knesset passes and it acts to subvert the state.
There is an urgent need in Israel to elect enough Knesset members who will agree to pass laws that will end the Supreme Court tyranny and end their power to determine the borders of the state of Israel. And that needs to be the Knesset first priority as in reality it is either a safe and secure democratic state of Israel or the tyranny of the Supreme Court, but it cannot be both.
For not making a change in the way the Supreme Court’s system operates, Israel is allowing the courts to intimidate the government, politicians and citizens and make the fairness of the law a dangerous twist of reality from which all of Israeli society suffers.
Not being able to dismantle the Supreme Court and annul its power grab, Israeli society suffers from a Stockholm Syndrome.
Explanations are needed. We all know the reality but it appears that only few support doing anything about the Supreme Court syndrome Israel suffers from.
So, can anyone in Israel explain to me this Supreme Court illogic?
The enlightenment of Israel would have a bitter end.
