There are many points that do require attention in the plan to change the judicial system presented this week by Bezalel Smotrich and Simcha Rothman.
But if their reform is accepted as it is - Israel will return to the 1950s, to the height of the corrupt popular dictatorship of David Ben-Gurion.
Those dark days before the drama of the "Volunteer Line" organization, which managed to make the legal system independent, and prevent the government from continuing to rule corruption, without Egypt.
Smotrich and Rothman rightly touch on a series of points that have been in need of correction for many years.
So as for the need to uproot the ability of the Supreme Court from serving as a supreme legislative authority;
Thus regarding the authority of absolute control assumed by the legal advisers in the government offices;
The same goes for determining the composition of the High Court of Justice and its powers; and the same goes for taking preventive measures against the ability of corrupt police officers and attorneys to handle false accusations against senior politicians. All of these and more indeed require revision, as well as correcting the basis of the judicial coup led by former Supreme Court President Aharon Barak.
"If their reform is accepted as it is - Israel will return to the 1950s."
Smotrich and Rothman, photo: Coco
Barak and his partners succeeded in creating a legal-operative tangle, which allowed the judges of the Supreme Court to determine the supreme norms in Israeli society.
Norms often contradict the positions of the majority of the Israeli public, and prevent its elected officials from applying policies that reflect the will of the majority.
Over the years, the excessive power entrusted to the legal advisers and state officials, with the aim of neutralizing the politicians, also caused serious injustices.
Especially when the system ignored the heinous acts of certain politicians and got worse with others, for wrong motives.
Yes to repair, not to destroy
All this indeed requires the restoration of the balance between the authorities.
We must ensure that each authority does its part - the Knesset will legislate and establish norms, the government will rule according to the mandate entrusted to it by the public, and the judges will judge.
A judgment that of course includes sharp criticism of the government's actions.
But what Smotrich and Rothman promote will not make everything happen.
He will entrust the government with excessive power, and will return us to the days of Ben-Gurion.
This is exactly throwing the baby out with the water.
The two took the principle of government in the hands of the government and removed all restraints and criticism from it.
They also forgot that an essential part of the scourge of the High Court and the Attorney General's takeover of the country was due to Benjamin Netanyahu's cooperation. Netanyahu as Prime Minister wanted the High Court and the Attorney General to rule in order to fend off the ideological pressures of his constituents, as long as he was not personally harmed by it.
He is the leader who nurtured Aharon Barak and his method, and contributed greatly to the distortion of the system.
It is a fact that Ayelet Shaked, in her four years as Minister of Justice, managed to bring about dramatic reforms in the judicial system, using the current rules of the game, without destroying anything.
Among other things, she changed the composition of the High Court and completely reined in the High Courts Department.
"During her four years as Minister of Justice, she managed to bring about dramatic reforms in the justice system."
Ayelet Shaked, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
This does not mean that the structure of the committee for the selection of judges should not be redesigned, and politicians should also be given more power regarding the appointments at the top.
But the entire committee must not be entrusted to the representatives of the government, who in the cynical spirit that blows on both sides of the political barrier may appoint horses to the Supreme Court, in the spirit of the Roman emperor Caligula.
True, it is not possible for the supreme judges to be only members of the "enlightened public" order, as Aharon Barak defined those who think like him.
But we must make sure that unworthy judges are not elected, and that these are not in the pockets of the politicians.
Another important element of the proposed plan deals with the elimination of the reason for reasonableness, and seeks to deny the right of free petition to the High Court. This is a particularly serious and extreme error. Although the High Court must not be allowed to continue to be the legislative authority, and the limits of the authority of judicial intervention must be sharpened by law, but the courts must To be activists and biters in the defense of the citizen and the purity of morals.
They are the refuge of all of us from the arbitrariness of the government.
And the government, especially government officials and ministers, holds so much power that it must be restrained so that it does not turn into abuse and corruption.
If there is a positive revolution introduced by Aharon Barak, it is the widespread right to stand in the High Court. Smotrich and Rothman know that only by the power of the right to stand was the recent scandalous appointment of Meni Mazuz to the head of the Appointments Review Committee thwarted. Under their plan, the High Court was precluded from intervening Even at the discretion of the Lapid government.
The most serious and indicative thing in the proposed reform is the demand to completely abolish the offense of "fraud and breach of trust".
Especially when Rothman demands that the cancellation apply retroactively, also to the Netanyahu trial.
This offense does require precision in the hands of the legislator, among other things neutralizing the ability of legal advisors and dishonest police officers to abuse politicians they don't like.
But so many public figures have been rightly convicted under this offense because of wrongful and serious acts they have committed.
After all, it is critical to prevent corruption and abuse on the part of mayors, ministers and, of course, prime ministers.
In general, the demand of the leaders of the "Religious Zionist" party in this matter, as well as regarding the French law, paints the whole of their reform in dark colors.
The background of the Netanyahu trial is so blatant that if Smotrich and Rothman really had pure intentions, they would have been reluctant to deal with the crime of breach of trust at the current time.
Do we really need to explain to the two how much tools must be adopted to prevent a politician from receiving goods worth hundreds of thousands of shekels from a billionaire like Milchan, under the circumstances described by Hadas Klein?
Do they not educate their children that these are obscene and illegal acts?
Are they not aware of the dangerous system of give and take between a politician and an interested party, which must be curbed by law?
Will they retroactively cancel the breach of trust?
Smotrich and Rothman, photo: Coco
There is no doubt that the leaders of religious Zionism are well aware of all this, so it is clear how far they have lost their compass.
Their reform, which has a justified basis, is not about a real and fair correction of the justice system, but about the corruption of the state.
Hypocrisy in the form of a drone
How encouraging it is to notice that the governments in the US and Europe have discovered the Iranian monster in recent weeks. The UAVs that the Ayatollah regime provides to Russia, which explodes them on the citizens of Ukraine, caused a wave of harsh reactions from Washington and European capitals towards Tehran.
So much so, that now it is reported that the chances of signing the nuclear agreement are almost zero.
What the routine threats of Iran's leaders to destroy the State of Israel did not do, simply to eliminate us;
What the endless terrorist attacks and acts of terror perpetrated by the Iranians did not do;
What the murderous and imperialist ideology of the cloaked ones, who oppress their people the most, did not do - a few hundred small aircraft did, which hurt the beloved daughter of the West.
All of this just illustrates how much we are loved by the current administrations, from the US to Germany and France, where we are and where the Ukrainians are. It also shows how much we should also draw conclusions from the UFO drama.
were we wrong
We will fix it!
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