SMOKE SCREEN?
Our beloved State of Israel is currently experiencing a deep crisis: weekly demonstrations against the government, media hysteria, and even threats of military desertion and civil war. This time, it is not an armed conflict with the enemy – though those never cease – but rather a civil protest from the opposition. The political mobilization has declared its goal to prevent “the end of democracy” in Israel. What is happening in Israel that poses such a danger to its democracy? The official story from the opposition is that the new Knesset, or Israeli Parliament, which took office a couple of months ago, is proposing a judicial reform that “will bring irreparable negative consequences to Israel in the short and long term.” Initially, I was concerned about these arguments, but then I applied some basic principles of Talmudic logic, which trained me to differentiate between empty slogans and solid facts. I realized that I have nothing to worry about regarding the future of democracy in Israel. So, what is this reform proposing? Listening to the opposition, one would think that there will be no more elections in Israel, women would not be able to vote, or every man will be forced to wear a Kippa. Let’s start by understanding a little better what the proposed judicial reform is all about. There are four points in the proposal, with the first and most fundamental being that future new judges of the Supreme Court of Justice of Israel shall not be elected through the vote or veto of the judges currently serving in the court. Instead, the new judges shall be elected by the representatives of the people, as happens in all democracies around the world. While there are other details, this is the most relevant issue. I know this because it is the first point the government is addressing, and it is the only point of the reform that the Minister of Justice, Yariv Levin, is unwilling to negotiate.
WHAT IS THIS REFORM GOING TO MODIFY?
So far, the system for electing new judges in Israel is “unique” in the democratic world, and not in a positive way. In Israel, sitting judges have the veto to disqualify new candidates. Let’s compare it with the United States, for example. When a vacancy in the Supreme Court opens up, new justices are nominated by the President, vetted, and after many investigations, inquiries, and public hearings, are approved by the Senate with a majority of at least 51 to 49. SITTING JUDGES DO NOT HAVE ANY SAY, VOTE, VOICE, OR VETO IN THIS PROCESS. On the contrary, they stay completely out of the picture to avoid the perception of a conflict of interest and to allow the process to be genuinely democratic and transparent. With some minor variables, this is the case in almost all democracies worldwide. In Israel, unbelievably, the judges of the Court (in Hebrew BAGATZ) choose the new judges. The candidates are not even subjected to a public hearing by the Knesset! Without these hearings, nepotism, conflict of interest, favoritism, lack of diversity, discrimination, or overrepresentation may remain undetected under the radar. This definitely non-democratic system has allowed the Supreme Court to multiply and perpetuate itself ideologically by choosing new judges from the same ethnicity, the same political views (socialism), and the same religious ideology (secular) as their predecessors. This outrageous fact was denounced a few days ago by the President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, who said that the Supreme Court of Israel “does not have significant Sephardic representation.” I add to that: neither religious nor conservative representation, although these sectors constitute more than 60% of Israel’s Jewish population today! It is clear then that the new proposal for the election of judges is anything but anti-democratic. But why, then, so much scandal? Who can be bothered by the fact that the Knesset would choose the future judges as the rest of the world does? Especially considering that the maximum term of a Knesset is four years (although in practice, it is much less; from 2019 to 2023, for example, the Knesset changed five times!). In four years, three or four judges may retire or resign and need a replacement. This implies that if this Knesset, which is leaning to the right, chooses judges of a similar ideology, the next Knesset, if it leans to the left, will be able to choose its left-leaning judges. And so, the balance is always restored. Take, for example, the case of the US Supreme Court. Thanks to its normal democratic system of electing new judges, a balance in terms of ideological representation will be achieved in the long term. Even if, once in a while, the US court might be 6 to 3, in the long term, the ratio between liberal and conservative judges will normally be 4 to 5 or 5 to 4. This is the new system that the new Knesset is proposing to elect new judges: a transparent and absolutely democratic one, while the present system is definitely not! Why so much noise, then? I believe this relates to the problems of the Israeli left-leaning parties.
IN THE BEGINNING
The modern State of Israel was founded in 1948 by European Zionist Jews who came from a socialist and secular culture. For example, David Ben Gurion and the vast majority of those who signed the Declaration of Independence of Medinat Israel belonged to socialist parties such as Mapai and Mapam, or Maki. These parties founded left-wing institutions such as the Kibbutzim, a social experiment unique in the world that put into practice the communist socio-cultural-economic utopia in its purest form. According to Professor Mordechai Kedar (see see this video for more detailed information), the socialist ideology that prevailed in Israel during those years was the reason why the Soviet Union was the first country in the world to vote in favor of the creation of the new Jewish State. The reason why Czechoslovakia, then a Soviet satellite, was the only country that supported Israel with planes and weapons in its independence war was that a socialist state was supporting another socialist state. Let there be no misunderstanding! The generation of Ben Gurion produced heroes who, although they did not have formal Jewish education, were responsible for founding the wonderful Jewish state that we enjoy today. They were the ones who literally gave their lives for Medinat Israel! We owe them a lot! And I believe that despite his secular ideology, David Ben Gurion did not ignore the religious magnitude of his political achievements. He said, “In Israel, whoever does not believe in miracles is not realistic.” And I think that part of that miracle is that the modern state of the people of the Book , the homeland of the people chosen by God, was founded by Jews who “declared” themselves atheists (I definitely believe that they were not!).
THE DISAPPOINTING PEACE PROCESS
Let’s now return to our topic. Over time, many changes took place in Israel that implied a transformation of the left and a sustained loss of its electoral strength. On the one hand, the fall of the Soviet Union and the collapse of communism meant that the Jewish state grew economically through booming capitalism. Mapai’s socialist platform was transformed, and the national Zionist values that characterized Ben Gurion were replaced by less Jewish and more universal ideas. On the other hand, there was the well-intentioned willingness to dialogue with the Palestinians and concede territories in exchange for peace. However, the average Israeli citizen became tired of seeing that concessions only brought more attacks and wars. Then came the Oslo fiasco and the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, which did not bring peace to Israel but, on the contrary, led to suicide attacks, terrorism, intifadas, underground tunnels, missiles, etc. This is when many left-leaning pacifist Israelis, such as Gadi Taub or Professor Mordechai Kedar, who believed in a sincere peace dialogue with the Palestinians, woke up from their illusion and realized that they were naive. They understood that on the Palestinian side, there is no partner for peace and that the Palestinians do not want to coexist with Israel but to replace Israel. It was a tough blow for the left, as more and more Israelis leaned to the right or at least to the center. Extreme left-wing parties, such as Shinui, Chadash, and what is now Meretz, became less representative of Israeli society.
RETAINING BUREAUCRATIC POWER
Although the left has been in decline in terms of its electoral power, it has strategically consolidated itself within the “deep state” – powerful institutions that do not depend on the votes of the Knesset. The Israeli left now dominates universities, the air force, elite army groups like the 8200 intelligence unit, the media, the national prosecutor’s office, and the secret services, among others. In this way, the socialist elite has retained much of the power it lost at the polls. The most coveted prize, however, is the Supreme Court. In 1995, Aharon Barak, the President of the Supreme Court, a man who identifies with the left and has recently confessed his complete ignorance of basic Judaism, obtained the authority to veto any law issued by the legislative body, the Keneset, in a questionable manner (see this video). Barak proclaimed his Court of Justice as the supreme authority virtually “above the Keneset”. It should be clarified that Israel does not have a constitution; it is a parliamentary democracy, like England. Therefore, when the Supreme Court rejects a Kenset legislation it is not because that law is against the constitution, as might happen in the US, for example. In Israel, the Supreme Court can veto a law even if it considers it “unreasonable,” giving the Court an authority higher than the Parliament and seriously disabling the Keneset’s ability to legislate. This does not exist in any democracy, whether constitutional or parliamentary). To ensure that the Court will not change its ideology in the future and will remain faithful to the left-wing philosophy, an election system was established in which current judges can veto new judges. In other words, Barak produced a “judicial coup or dictatorship” with the power to annul laws legislated by any Keneset, especially right-leaning, and maintained its hegemony, cloning itself regardless of the results of democratic elections. Today, according to Israeli journalist Jacob Vardugo, 12 o 13 of the 15 current judges are left-leaning judges! Can you imagine the US Supreme Court with 8 out of 9 conservative or liberal judges with a say and a veto in the election of new judges?
CHANGES
And this “inbalance of power” is exactly what the judicial reform promoted by Justice Minister Yariv Levin wants to modify. They desire a Supreme Court that reflects the serving Knesset, whether right or left. If the demand is for “democracy,” then let the left win the next elections and choose their judges, as it happens in all countries worldwide! Moreover, if the opposition wins the next election, they can “reverse” all the other points of the judicial reform. These are the rules of any healthy democracy. However, the Israeli left is losing more and more supporters, and in the last elections in November 2022, the left-leaning party Meretz did not receive enough votes. For the first time in history, it was left out of the Knesset! This is why the Israeli left is in “panic” mode, organizing demonstrations to survive the “mortal”- but democratic- blow it received . If this analysis is correct, then the opposition to the judicial reform proposed by the new government is not the reason for this crisis, but a new excuse used by the opposition’s leaders who are desperately trying to regain relevance. They are threatening a civil war, withdrawing money from Israel, and trying to destabilize or damage the current government. In this political war, the opposition has many allies in all media outlets, such as channels 11, 12, and 13 (except for channel 14), newspapers such as Haaretz, retired army generals formed with a socialist ideology, former Prime Ministers who have lost relevance, political rivals of Netanyahu, and even right-wing political adversaries. However, the opposition only has 47 seats (without counting the Arab parties) against the government’s 64, which means that the judicial reform will pass through a democratic vote.
FEAR OF DEMOCRACY OR FEAR OF DEMOGRAPHY?
As long as it is done within the law, every attempt to survive politically is valid. But it hurts me that the left is cynically spreading fake news and arguing that all these demonstrations are being held to prevent the “end of democracy”, when in reality, the goal is to prevent the “end of the left’s monopoly” in a Supreme Court that is anything but democratic. The left knows that if the future Supreme Court judges are democratically elected by the Knesset, they will lose representation in the long run. Why? On the one hand, as we have explained, the traditional left lost countless supporters who were disappointed by the insistence on negotiating peace with those who only seek our extermination. But there is something else: the left fears that they are irretrievably losing their electorate due to Israel’s demographic projection. In 1999, the experienced religious and political leader Menachem Porush said the following to his left-leaning political opponents: “Instead of protesting, secular Israelis should have more children… we… every time we open a Talmud Torah or a traditionalist or religious school, they immediately fill up! While secular schools are increasingly empty! Why don’t you help your own schools and institutions grow? Today, left-leaning Israelis have negative birth rates… the biggest tragedy you have created is this low birth rate… have more children and I assure you that we will get along just fine together…”. In the long run, this demographic projection that includes traditionalist and right-wing Israelis will render the left irrelevant. Once we understand this, we will realize that the left’s demonstrations and threats of civil war are not because they fear losing democracy, but because of the panic over the new demographic reality, which was already felt in the last elections. THIS IS THE REAL PROBLEM OF THE OPPOSITION.
In conclusion, no one wants a civil war. The new government does not want to impose religious lifestyles by force or limit individual freedoms. The goal of this new government and the judicial reform is precisely to respect the will of the people expressed through democratic elections, in the present and in the future. The judicial reform is a historic step towards a truly democratic Israel, proudly reclaiming its national and Jewish identity. Towards that end, with God’s help, the State of Israel is heading.
