WhatsappIn an “only in Israel” moment, a number of leftist MKs jumped on tables in the Constitution and Law Committee meeting discussing the current judicial reforms that has the left on the verge of collective melt down.
The left has accused the right of destroying democracy in Israel and establishing a dictatorship. The rhetoric has reached such a level that violence broke out in the committee meeting, with leftists MK’s approaching committee chair Simcha Rothman in a threatening manner. The leftist MK’s were dragged out of the meeting by security.
What is going on? Why has the left reacted so harshly to the right’s attempt to make changes to Israel’s judicial system? The simple answer is control. Since the initial establishment of the State of Israel, the left has been in control of Israel. While demographics clearly show they are the minority, they have been able to retain control over Israel through the judicial system.
The left is right in a certain sense. There is a dictatorship in Israel, however it is led by the Supreme Court not the Knesset. In Israel, the supreme court picks itself. They also have the reasonability clause that allows them to throw out laws on a whim. They are known as one of the most activist courts in the world.
Israel’s Supreme Court has become the corridor where the US State Department and EU exert control over Israel’s domestic policy. This is why the Biden administration has entered the debate on Israel’s judicial overhaul.
The judicial reform package put forward by Yariv Levin and Simcha Rothman is a set of laws that will shift Israel’s court to be closer to the USA’s and other western countries. This is of course why the Left is angry. They believe that Israel is theirs – gifted to them for merely being the grand children of the founders. Of course, just like today, Israel in 1948 was torn between the Ashkenazi elite who worked with the British and the rank and file who more or less supported Begin’s Irgun and the Lechi.
The Ashkenazi Elite won out and controlled the state directly and then through the judiciary until today. The judicial reforms are merely restoring the power to the people and out fo the hands of the judicial junta that has been acting as the real master of the Land.
