The constitutional revolution that began in 1992 with the passage of the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Freedom and the Basic Law on Freedom of Occupation expanded the High Court of Justice’s activism. It is also at the core of the plan to destroy the legal system that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Justice Minister Yuval Levin are now pushing.
Yet even in the view of those now trying to destroy the judicial branch, the disruption of the balance between the judiciary, on one hand, and the executive and legislature, on the other, occurred only gradually, over the course of 30 years. One ruling after another, one petition after another led the ideologues behind the overhaul plan to conclude that a correction was needed.
But if something occurred in a slow process over the course of 30 years, is it reasonable to correct it through a hasty legislative process lasting just a few weeks, of a kind we have never seen before, even for simpler reforms that didn’t involve a complete overhaul of our system of government?
The pace, the manner and the substance of this overhaul are all motivated by a desire for revenge among members of the governing coalition, as well as by the understanding that whatever they don’t do quickly won’t happen at all. Consequently, they have shut their ears and ignored the concerns raised by jurists, economists, human rights activists and businesspeople both in Israel and abroad who have urged them to stop.
They are already preparing an alibi for the havoc the overhaul will wreak on Israel’s economy. They have accused opposition leaders in advance of waging a campaign “meant to cause harm and conduct a targeted assassination against Israel’s economy,” as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich put it.
They are ignoring the world’s largest banks, which have warned that the legal overhaul will result in Israel’s credit rating being lowered and reduce foreign investment. They are relying mainly on the assumption that by the time all this damage occurs, the overhaul will already have passed, so the coalition’s control over judicial appointments, the castration of judicial review and the liquidation of ministry legal advisers will all have been accomplished.
This poses a dilemma for the people warning of devastating economic consequences. The damage they foresee will be long-term, so it’s hard to point it out now. This time lag benefits the coalition, because anything that doesn’t happen immediately ostensibly won’t be connected to the legal overhaul. This requires the opposition to sharpen its tones and hoist its banners high, so the public will know what is in store for it.
The decision by high-tech companies like Wiz and Papaya to remove their money from Israel didn’t stem from any fear for their money. The government doesn’t intend to confiscate or harm their money in any way. On the contrary, due to the harsh criticisms of the legal overhaul, it might well grant incentives to investors.
Rather, this withdrawal of funds was a vote of no-confidence in a government that’s advancing legislation that will make Israel and its most important institutions – the courts, the police and even the army – more corrupt, more religious and more extreme.
High-tech, more than any other industry, has the ability to tell the government, “We cannot and don’t want to produce or start businesses in such a country.” There’s no need to wait until the nature of the legal overhaul becomes clear, because it’s effectively already here.
The coalition is moving forward with the so-called Dery Law, which will enable Arye Dery to become a minister even though the High Court ruled that it was unreasonable to appoint someone thrice convicted of crimes as a minister. Dery has openly scoffed at the ruling and is running his designated ministries by remote control.
MK Amit Halevi (Likud) has sponsored a bill that would permit donors to fund elected officials’ legal expenses, and also those of an elected official’s “spouse or a child financially dependent on him.” This is meant to circumvent the Supreme Court ruling that required Netanyahu to repay a $270,000 donation from his cousin, and also, of course, to give his son Yair a license to step up his attacks on social media, in the knowledge that some tycoon will be found to pay any resultant lawsuits.
The goal isn’t a rebalancing or a correction, but a demolition job that will lead to corruption. That is what will make businesspeople and private individuals withdraw their money from Israel. And this trend will just keep gathering steam.
Israel’s Revenge-driven Coup Has Begun
The constitutional revolution that began in 1992 with the passage of the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Freedom and the Basic Law on Freedom of Occupation expanded the High Court of Justice’s activism. It is also at the core of the plan to destroy the legal system that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Justice Minister Yuval Levin are now pushing.
Yet even in the view of those now trying to destroy the judicial branch, the disruption of the balance between the judiciary, on one hand, and the executive and legislature, on the other, occurred only gradually, over the course of 30 years. One ruling after another, one petition after another led the ideologues behind the overhaul plan to conclude that a correction was needed.
But if something occurred in a slow process over the course of 30 years, is it reasonable to correct it through a hasty legislative process lasting just a few weeks, of a kind we have never seen before, even for simpler reforms that didn’t involve a complete overhaul of our system of government?
The pace, the manner and the substance of this overhaul are all motivated by a desire for revenge........
© Haaretz
visit website
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Yara Hawari
Marwan Bishara
Patrick Gathara
Andrew Mitrovica
Hipolitus Wangge
Priyamvada Gopal
Tafi Mhaka
Fisayo Soyombo
