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By: Vlad Bechor Mosheyev
Over the past few months, there have been hundreds of thousands of people protesting daily in Israel, in a fight of conviction against PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial reforms also known as the Reasonableness Bill. These new reforms call for an overhaul of the legal system, which will be the biggest proposed legislation since Israel’s independence over 70 years ago. Simply put, by passing this bill the selection process of Justices will be less concentrated to the establishment elite and allow everyday citizens to input on the makeup of the court. In addition, the supreme court will have less authority in easily overturning legally passed bills in the Knesset through a simple majority vote.
American Jews and the American Public have been fed a propaganda campaign by well-funded and organized special interests’ group that want to appear strong pretending they have momentum in order to put an end to the reforms. These groups mainly controlled by Marxist/Socialist Liberal Elites, want Israel to remain a secular state with a loosely held Jewish identity and use their ties in the media to paint a picture of a collapsing society in order to get ordinary people aroused to bring them to the streets. The demonstrations have got to the point where there are those in power in Israel who are warning of a civil war.
This is a farce, meant to scare the public into conceding their support for the overhaul. I am on the ground in Israel, and overwhelmingly people have been peaceful, engaging one another in meaningful dialogue. There is much to be said about the underlying cause in the lead up to this historic event, and its effects on the current dynamic in Israel however this article will be kept concise. I will briefly touch upon some historical context, discuss the bread and butter of the reforms, the inference in Israeli elections and tie all my points together.
The Zionist movement was led by the secular Jewish class whose main goal was to escape the plague of antisemitism infecting much of Europe in the late 1800’s to early 1900s. Many of Europe’s Jews were assimilated into society, however still viewed themselves as Jewish. Thus, when Israel achieved it independence in 1947, religious observance was not the main goal of the public majority. In fact, David Ben-Gurion notably believed that Jewish Orthodoxy will not thrive in Israel for future generations. Over the ensuing decades thereafter, culturally rich Jewish immigrants from all over the world began pilgriming to the nation state, bringing with them their sense of strong Jewish identity.
Slowly but surely, Israel was changing from a Secular Socialist Society to one that wants to embody the times of King Solomon. As Jews living in the land of Israel commune, they begin to understand the purpose of their being and reject a nation state that is a subset of the West. Put simply, they want Judaism to survive and thrive.
The demographic shift, not surprisingly, has transitioned over politically as evident by recent elections and polling data. Conservatism and its political parties such as the Religious Zionist Party have gained much attraction. While no one political party is perfect, these parties have the momentum and can translate their vision for Israel that appeals to younger voters.
Accordingly, old school labor Zionists and Israel’s secular elite have been shell shocked because they did not anticipate such a shift in public opinion and feel that their grip on ideals is slipping away, I believe the passing of the reforms is the logical start point and a crying out by Israeli citizens who want to be ruled by a set of laws that are representative of 3500 Years of Judean history and tradition. The mass protests are a contrary reaction by a large body of Israelis whose core set of beliefs are being put into question in an open debate. Overall, this is very health for Israeli democracy.
Currently, the Judicial Selection Committee is composed of nine members. Three Supreme Court Judges. Three of them are Supreme Court judges, two are representatives of the Bar Association, two are Knesset members and two are ministers. Selection of judges to all courts require a simple majority of the Committee, but selection of Supreme Court judges require the approval of seven out of the nine members on the Committee, granting essentially veto powers to either the three judges or the representatives of the ruling Parliamentary coalition. The members of the committee who are not publicly elected officials have a majority in the Committee.
There is an incredible disconnect between the Supreme Court and the majority public, which makes Israel less democratic and opens civil unrest. If we want look to America as the gold standard of democracy, then Israel is far from it. In the US and many other EU nations, the makeup of the courts is determined by elected officials such as the President. This allows for fresh ideas and new outlooks on laws. President Joe Biden, Congress, and any outside nation have no right to lecture Israel’s interior policy. The current system in Israel allows the judicial select committee to keep appointing like-minded justices for generations even if their fundamental views represent 1% of the country.
For example, in Israel the Supreme Court is predominantly ruled by ideologies that are represented in the Labor Party, an incredibly small minority in the Knesset. MK Simcha Rothman, one of the masterminds of these reforms, put this idea beautifully. If America equated its judicial election system to Israel, then America would have a Supreme Court today that is ruled by ideologies from the Civil War or Segregation. In reality, these reforms would allow any party in Israel, to appoint their justices freely, ensuring a strong and vibrant democracy.
The elites in power who are driving these protests refuse to understand is that Jews are separated amongst all other nations based on our fundamental belief in the Torah, which represents truth. The body of the collective Jew includes things such as the food we eat, the way we dress, the people we marry and the form of government that ought to be established. The Supreme Court in Israel for the most part doesn’t value these traditions as evident by their hostile rulings towards observant Jews. They are hostile towards the Rabbinic court that validates marriages. There is a rise in assimilation because of intermarriage and this poses a risk to Jewish population. In an average American style democracy, church and state are two separate institutions without conflict.
For a vibrant Israel religion and politics cannot be viewed from the lens of being a separate entity. If we would validate a non-Jewish marriage or allow non-Kosher animals to be served at any restaurant, we are harming the fiber of our being. While one can hope that the day will come where a Jew’s free will would not want such things, however that time has not come therefore requiring such laws to be put in place. In Maimonides, the great Jewish Talmudic Scholar, teachings you can find the laws of Passover, the laws of Shabbat, and the laws of government. He understood that these concepts are all intertwined. The tragedy of our exile is that Jews ceased to be a nation and instead choose to classify itself a religion, which we are not. In the five books of Moses, there is a mention of Hal Kodosh, or Holy Nation, a chosen people.
G-d’s law is binding on all Jews, and if we do not abide by his law and seek to undermine the positive shift in Jewish people seeking to be more perfect then, we can have a right- or left-wing government, we won’t have any help. It is evident through these reforms that the Parliamentary system we inherited from the west has no place in Israel and while I understand that this overture seems out of scope currently, I believe presently the inner battle in Israel’s public square may be about judicial reforms masked as an inner struggle on what form of government Israel should have. Therefore, I agree with President Herzog that Israel is in a constitutional crisis and any further inner-fighting is indicative of a new battle for years to come on the soul of the Jewish nation.
As an American Jew, I cheerfully state my opinion and the way I see things. Jews in the diaspora should all be vocal about Israels public affairs, and it does not matter what side they are on. The elite and mainstream media propaganda machine will lose. Each one of you are an integral part of the Jewish state and we must be able to resolve our differences, and peacefully listen to each other. G-d bless the Jewish people.
