Now, this is a super important, comprehensive explanation on the whole situation in Israel with regards to the judicial reform, the vote that passed and the whole protest movement.
So, if you really want to understand, stick with me to the end.
I woke up to a pleasant surprise the other morning.
I was quoted in an article that appeared on the front page of the New York Times.
Only one sentence of mine was quoted, from a full 10 minute interview, but I was still pleasantly surprised to see them include that quote of mine. I was just sad that they left out the full explanation I gave explaining the quote that they used.
I explained to them that what we are experiencing in Israel today is a coup, not a protest movement. That a tiny elite leadership of the protest movement is the problem, pushing the masses to the streets with well-funded campaigns of lies and emotional manipulation.
That this tiny elite is willing to destroy the unity of the Israeli people, the unity of the IDF, the Israeli economy and destroy Israeli democracy itself, just to hold on to their power.
Understand, this tiny elite will fail, even though they have succeeded in whipping up a massive public to protest. We as a people, all of us, will overcome this subversive campaign of a tiny elite to divide us, but it is still a painful process to experience and witness.
Even though the New York Times article did not include my full explanation, that I will shortly share with you, it certainly seems that the thesis of the NYT article follows much of the information that I provided, as the article gives little to no focus on how the judicial reform is a “danger to democracy”, which it is not. Instead, the article focuses on how the protest movement is really about a rift over a cultural shift in Israel, which is basically what I told them.
Few people are saying these truths to our fellow Jews, and to Israel-loving non-Jews around the world. Instead, everyone is reliant on the biased and agenda-driven establishment media for their news on Israel.
I hope my little voice with the inspiring, politically incorrect truth can help some people wake up to what is really going on here in Israel. For more of the politically incorrect truth about the judicial reform and the protest movement, just visit PulseofIsrael.com and search for judicial reform in the search bar.
Now, where are we today, now that the Knesset passed the law to minimize the court’s usage of the reasonableness clause?
If you read any of the establishment media, you will read about doom and gloom and the destruction of Israeli democracy.
Just look at this black sponsored ad that was placed in all of Israel’s major papers this morning. It gives over the impression that all of Israel is in mourning today, because of a tiny inconsequential vote that hardly made a dent to the overreach of the judicial system.
Regardless, yesterday, and this morning, angry protestors were blocking main highways, and publicly talking about either leaving the country or looking forward to taking revenge against the right-wing/religious community when the political left returns to power.
Now, what just happened? What was this vote really about?
First of all, I feel for my fellow Israelis and Jews who are sad and angry today. After hearing the extremely angry and divisive messages of the protest movement, of course any trusting person would be sad and angry.
However, while having that empathy for them, I will continue to call out the agenda of lies that they have been fed, that manipulated them to feel this way.
Once again, we, the innocent and trusting public, all of us, are being fed lies and emotional manipulation, all the time. This time, the agenda is that Israeli democracy is “in danger”.
But, in reality, Israeli democracy is not in danger.
Just look at this list showing the various tools that Israeli Supreme Court judges have in making judgements, even after yesterday’s vote, and some of those tools also have nothing to do with actually enforcing the law, which should be the actual basis for all their legal judgements!
And or context understand, since the 1980s until today, the Supreme Court judges used the very non-legal “reasonableness clause” to strike down sound government decisions like…
expelling terrorist families, forbidding terrorist families from entering Israel, forcing government ministries to give State prizes to Israeli citizens who publicly support boycotting and sanctioning Israel.
These are just some of the “legal” decisions that the Supreme Court has made in the past using the “reasaonableness” clause. Not based on any laws, no, just based on their own “reasoning” of what made sense to them as judges. That has nothing to do with judging the law! That is totally subjective, the reasoning of any given set of judges, and their value system.
So, yesterday’s vote minimizes, it doesn’t even get rid of it totally, it just minimizes the cases that the judges can use the very subjective, and non-legal, “reasonableness” clause.
Now that they can’t do that anymore, do I believe that they won’t use, for instance, the “proportionality” clause to nullify government decisions?
‘Israel can’t deport terrorists because it’s not proportional’,
‘Israel must allow in terrorists’ families because it is not proportional to forbid it.
Of course the Supreme Court judges will continue to use their subjective reasoning, and values, to make their judgements that will impact all of Israel.
So, ultimately, yesterday’s vote hardly made a dent on the Supreme Court judges.
Once somebody truly understands what was voted upon yesterday, one understands that the Israeli government did NOT neuter the independence of Supreme Court judges.
There is no danger to Israeli democracy.
There is NO reason for the manipulated outrage & despair.
And there is absolutely NO reason for anyone, especially doctors in public hospitals, to strike!!!
That is just evil, Doctors willfully deciding to make sick people suffer because of a political protest??? What kind of doctors are they???
So, again, the government, with this recent nullification of the “reasonableness” clause, is not weakening Israeli democracy.
But, again, this protest movement was never really about the reasonableness cluase or even the whole, very just and needed, judicial reform that we still need this government to do.
NO.
We are experiencing a despicable & evil campaign led by a small elite of disgruntled former political leaders, military leaders and business leaders, who are masterfully manipulating the masses with well-funded pr campaigns from the largest marketing companies in the country, that these business elites own, together with the establishment media, all for one purpose, to topple this government at any cost, because they don’t like the government and the changes that this government will make.
Well, that is why we have elections. You don’t like them, well then, throw the bums out in the next election. That’s the democratic process.
Now, there are those who share the lie that they are protesting because the process was all “one-sided”, and that “the government is deaf to the voices of the people.”
So, NO. That narrative is also a bunch of lies.
This vote was already an extremely softened approach to an issue that had consensus with the opposition. But you won’t hear that from the leaders of the protest movement or the establishment media, all in cahoots to topple this government.
Understand, the reality not told to us by the establishment media, is that there is one side interested in compromise and one side interested in instigating civil war if they don’t get their way. Period.
There is no reasoning with lies and emotional manipulation aimed at instigating civil war with no interest in truly compromising. I have said this since the beginning of this crisis, around half a year ago.
Also, how many times have I been outspoken in trying to wake people up to the constant lies we are fed by the establishment media to emotionally manipulate us to take a side in an issue, whether with regards to Israel or anywhere in the world?
Too many times!
All is good. This is obviously a necessary process for us to go through in order to further clarify for ourselves truth from falsehoods, as individuals, as a people and for all of humanity.
We will come out of this insane manipulated time period stronger and more united than before.
Now, let’s talk about consense, because that is another soundbyte that is being pushed upon us – this judicial reform is being pushed upon Israeli society without consensus.
Well, first of all, I’m all for consensus, but I’m also all for calling out the absolute hypocrisy of the protest movement screaming about “no consensus”.
Why were they silent when the Rabin government signed the Oslo accord with the worst Jew-killer in modern history, without consensus, and against Israeli law??? (Israel had a law that it was forbidden to have talks with representative of the PLO)
There never was a consensus for Aharon Barak’s judicial revolution, usurping the powers of the executive and legislative branches, that created the very undemocratic system of governance we have today. Why were they silent about that?
There never was a consensus for Ehud Barak disasterous, dangerous and back-stabbing pullout from Lebanon, empowering Hezbollah. Why were they silent about that? (Back-stabbing because he threw our Lebanese Christian Arab Allie’s under the bus, literally running for their lives).
There wasn’t a consensus, when, just a year ago, former PM Yair Lapid gave away sovereign rights to our water space to Hezbollah! Without Knesset approval, as law dictates, and even more damning, when he was a sitting-duck Prime Minister, a time period that the Attorney General and Supreme Court always forbid Netanyahu governments from making any policy changes! Why were they silent about that?
And that is just a short list.
The bottom line is, that whenever the political left acts without consensus, the population of Israel has to get over it and live with the dangerous consequences. However, when a right-wing government does it, it’s a danger to democracy and the leaders of the political left, together with the establishment media, give themselves the moral right to destroy our society, our army, our economy, and even hurt sick people by having doctors in public hospitals go on strike.
The hypocrisy of the situation screams to the high heavens.
To sum up this whole episode, I want to share with you the following thought:
My friend, Malkah Fleisher eloquently expressed earlier that what we today are experiencing in Israel is a dynamic of Kibbutz galuyut, after 2,000 years of exile, spread across the diaspora, persecution after persecution, that finally the different streams of the Jewish people have returned back in our ancestral homeland, and trying to figure out what character this Jewish state of ours should have. The statements by some of the protest leaders are downright insane and scary, leading some people to publicly support the destruction of the unity of our society, the IDF , and the economy, but most of the protestors do not have that same mindset.
The sad irony is that this vote on the reasonableness clause will hardly make a dent in actually improving our justice system and ending the undemocratic judicial stranglehold over the whole governance system in Israel, but the dynamic of us finally trying to figure out who we are, why we are back here and what type of Jewish state we all want, is the important process that we are actually experiencing.
But I’m very optimistic! In the end, these trying times will help strengthen and unify those of us who understand that want unified us is much greater than what divides us. It looks painful right now, but all will be good, Bez”h!
Am Yisrael Chai!!!
[This post was first published in Israel Unwired]