On the night between Monday and Tuesday, at the seam between the month of the winter tribe and the smiling maple, the Israeli House of Representatives, the House of the Sovereign, was buzzing with activity.
Befitting the only place where the citizens of Israel are represented in their own right, the work continued late into the night in preparation for the first reading vote on the first sections of the legal reform.
The Minister of Justice spoke at length, his opponents chanted at him, and when the words were finished, the vote began, which set in motion in the most tangible way the process that the Israeli government is seeking to set in motion in order to restore the balance between the authorities in Israel to its rightful place.
Secular Tel Avivians receive disproportionate representation, photo: Eric Marmor Flash90
A few hundred meters away, across the road, stood the Israeli House of Lords, the Supreme Court.
The lights in the corridors are off, the courtrooms are empty, the judges' chambers are silent.
And so, while the judiciary was sleeping, the legislative authority had its say, at least in the first reading.
It is difficult to estimate that a similar situation occurred in the houses of the judges themselves.
Those who are in office, and also those who have already retired.
It doesn't take much to imagine the Honorable President Ester Hayut looking with bridal eyes at the members of the Knesset fulfilling their mission, by virtue of their democratic authority as elected officials.
It is likely that former President Aharon Barak was not satisfied with the Justice Minister's speech, which marked him as directly responsible for the proposed change.
Still, the upper corridors have been keeping quiet for the past few weeks.
Since Judge Hayut's strong speech regarding the reform, it's as if the judges have retreated to the back slope, and the court is quiet even during the day and not just at night.
Except for one sound: the sound of the token falling.
The justice system understands that the battle has been decided.
The war broke out and the enemy crossed the lines.
The change is here.
The judicial system will undergo a fundamental, necessary and essential revision.
Despite the determination of those protesting in the streets, the anger of those spreading the gospel of the burning of the barns and the fratricidal war, and in contrast to the apparent embarrassment of the leaders of the opposition in the Knesset, the question now concerns the way of implementing the amendments - and which of them will be implemented first.
The judges and system officials mark the lines.
Now they are trying to maintain what they see as the last bastion: the right of veto in the judicial selection committee.
Apart from that, they are also ready, or at least understand, that they will be forced to compromise.
If it were up to them, negotiations would have been carried out already tomorrow on the basis of the agreement that the veto right of the judges would not be compromised.
But longings are separate and reality is separate, and there are things that even the supreme judges are not able to change despite being skilled political actors.
One is the will of the people;
The judges will not be able to get what they want because the people's representatives oppose it.
The second is the political game, where the opponents of the plan are stuck on a dead end in a state of political limbo.
Those who are shocked by the inclusion of Bible verses in the order of battle of the Shomron Brigade are a minority, photo: Ben Zvi Institute
Of all the vocal opponents, it is worth paying attention to the former Minister of Justice, Gideon Sa'ar.
He left the government a legacy in the form of a legal advisor.
Attorney Gali Beharve-Miara, as I recall, did not particularly impress the chairman of the search committee, retired judge Asher Grunis, who did not see her as a leading candidate.
However, Sa'ar insisted on her appointment and promoted her candidacy.
Now she serves in a government that Sa'ar is not a member of, but positions himself as a fierce opponent of the one who heads it.
And the ombudsman, whether she likes it or not, plays a central role on this field. She imposed a ban on Netanyahu from engaging in the legal reform, claiming a conflict of interest. The Prime Minister is prohibited from promoting the reform, but what will happen if he intervenes in the form of canceling the reform or delaying the legislation? Any person of integrity knows the answer. Nothing bad will come to him, the conflict of interest only applies in cases of behavior that is undesirable from the point of view of the system.
On another level, the storm has the ability to have a more direct influence - and there it is likely that he exerts his weight.
Sa'ar, as is known to those who follow his career, is a participant in the criticism of the judicial system, and even proposed reforms, some of which are not very far from those promoted today.
Allegedly, he could attack the role of the national mediator, offer his help in mediation and profit, whether the negotiations under his leadership fail or whether it succeeds.
But he prefers to stand up against the government, participate and speak in demonstrations.
In the Blue and White environment, there is an explanation that the main thing that stops Benny Gantz from reaching out to talk to Netanyahu - is Sa'ar's stubborn refusal and a system of pressures that he exerts against any kind of dialogue or compromise.
He also marks the judges' veto as the last line;
A matter that cannot be deviated from.
So it turns out that even if Gantz really wants to enter the path of negotiations, he will be blocked by Sa'ar.
And so the State of Israel is reeling in turbulent waters, unable to resolve an issue that everyone agrees that the time has come to resolve.
A tangle that is trapped not only between a coalition and the judicial system, but also between an ombudsman and the politician who appointed her.
But all this does not change the fact that the legal reform has started.
Now it remains for its opponents within the system, and also for those who stand in the way of the compromises, to accept the change that is on the way as a fact, at least for the benefit of those who do not threaten to cross the baby and for the respect of those who in fact "have no other country".
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