The senior American jurist, Professor Alan Dershowitz, says in an interview with "Israel Today" that he supports limiting the power of the Supreme Court in Israel, but it must be done in a way that does not make it political and that ensures that the court will continue to protect human rights.
"The Supreme Court of Israel and the Attorney General in Israel are among the best there are. They are both ambassadors of Israel in the world. The Attorney General's office in Israel is better than that of the United States because it is more independent.
The Supreme Court of Israel is tough and deals with issues of war and peace.
I am critical of some of his decisions but he is balanced and does a good job.
"The attorney general in Israel is better than the one in the USA." Senior American lawyer Alan Dershowitz, photo: AP
"There is a pure attempt here to make the court political. To change the way justice is done in Israel and the way the attorney general is appointed. To turn it into a political institution controlled by the Knesset. It would be a terrible thing that would destroy the checks and balances and turn them into something close to the goal of politicization In the hands of the Knesset.
So any change is wrong?
"No. It can be changed. The Supreme Court should not deal with economic issues, such as whether the gas agreement with Lebanon is legal. This is not something that the Supreme Court should decide on. Or other political issues such as the end of the occupation in Gaza. These are not issues that the court should decide on But fundamental issues such as human rights, equality between men and women and between Jews and Arabs, gays and straights, religious and non-religious - these are core issues that should be decided by the Supreme Court and not by the Knesset."
As far as I understand, these are the changes that the new government is aiming for. They have no intention of destroying the court.
"This is not what they say. To say that the Knesset will have control over everything, that would be devastating. But to say that the Supreme Court has too much power and they should not have power over issues A, B, C and D - I support In this. But I do not support giving the Knesset the right to override the basic human rights of a single person."
Dershowitz said these things in an interview with "Israel Today" at the end of the Zionist Organization conference held yesterday at the "Ano" Museum in Tel Aviv and dealt with the challenges of boycotts against Israel.
Israel Hayom reporter Ariel Kahana in conversation with Alan Dershowitz, photo: no
Dershowitz harshly attacked the leadership of American Jewry for not taking a strong enough stance against the delegitimization movement and boycotts against Israel. According to Dershowitz, "the Jewish leadership does not want to take risks.
They prefer their economic interests over taking a stand.
Those who are appointed are rich people who do not want to jeopardize the status.
They care more about their success than the success of the Jewish people.
They have historically failed in everything they have done.
From their opposition to Zionism in the early 1920s, through the years of the Holocaust to not joining the struggle for the liberation of Soviet Jewry."
As for the danger posed by the boycott movement, the 85-year-old Dershowitz pointed out that it has failed economically but is successful on campuses.
According to him, "Israel needs to prepare itself for any scenario so that it will not depend on anyone in the future. I believe that during my lifetime and the lifetime of the children of the United States, it will continue to support Israel.
But Israel needs to prepare itself for any scenario so that it is not surprised, as happened to it in the Yom Kippur War in 1973."
The head of the department for the fight against anti-Semitism in the Zionist Organization, Racheli Bartz-Kris, said at the conference that "anti-Semitism is not only spraying swastikas, but also Holocaust denial, opposition to Zionism and the denial of Israel's existence."
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