Nadene Goldfoot
In an interview with NPR's Morning Edition, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will not replace the country's top law enforcement official, but does expect to reappoint a convicted tax felon to a senior position in government, after passing a contentious law this week giving his government some unchecked powers over senior appointments. It is the first time Netanyahu has publicly stated what he expects to do with the new legislation passed Monday limiting a power of the Supreme Court. of an elected government.
- Moshe Smoira (1948–1954)
- Yitzhak Olshan (1954–1965)
The Supreme Court of Israel (Hebrew: בֵּית הַמִּשְׁפָּט הָעֶלְיוֹן, Beit HaMishpat HaElyon; Arabic: المحكمة العليا, Al Mahkama Al ‘Ulyā) is the highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court consists of 15 judges appointed by the President of Israel, upon nomination by the Judicial Selection Committee. Once appointed, Judges serve until retirement at the age of 70 unless they resign or are removed from office. The current President of the Supreme Court is Esther Hayut. Who selects the judicial Selection Committee? Two
“The courts of Israel will continue to be independent, and no side will take it over,” Netanyahu said in an address to the nation Monday evening, adding that he was open to compromise on other parts of the judicial overhaul.
The effort to weaken the judiciary has split the country since the proposal was launched unexpectedly just days after Netanyahu’s new right-wing government took office in late December. Yariv Levin, the justice minister, introduced a package of Knesset bills that would give the ruling parties more power to override Supreme Court decisions and select judges.
The package included legislation that would stop the Supreme Court from blocking politicians convicted of crimes from serving in top government jobs under the judicial standard of “reasonableness.” That authority was stripped from the court in Monday’s vote; like Deri, health and interior minister. Deri Miara was convicted of tax fraud in 2021. On the other hand, Netanyahu could now not only reappoint Deri but also fire Israel’s independent attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, who has angered coalition members by not prosecuting people who have demonstrated at the homes of government ministers.
If adopted, the reform would grant the Knesset the power to override Supreme Court rulings by a majority of 61 or more votes, diminish the ability of the court to conduct judicial review of legislation and of administrative action, prohibit the court from ruling on the constitutionality of basic laws, and change the makeup of the Judicial Selection Committee so that a majority of its members are appointed by the government. The legislation is currently being considered by the Knesset and the relevant committees.
Netanyahu will now benefit as in Case 4000, the most significant of the three cases against Netanyahu that make up the trial; Also known as the Bezeq-Walla case, focuses on allegations that Netanyahu, during a previous tenure as prime minister, authorized regulatory decisions that financially benefited Bezeq telecommunications giant shareholder Shaul Elovitch by hundreds of millions of shekels. In return, Netanyahu allegedly received favorable media coverage from the Walla news site, also owned by Elovitch. Netanyahu faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in the case. Netanyahu is also on trial for two additional counts of fraud and breach of trust in Case 1000, which concerns gifts he allegedly inappropriately received from billionaire benefactors, and Case 2000, in which he allegedly negotiated to obtain positive media coverage in a newspaper in exchange for curtailing its competitors. Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing in the cases against him and claims that the charges were fabricated in a witch hunt led by the police and state prosecution.
Notice, there are organizers of the demonstrations going on at all levels. Organizers of demonstrations that have drawn tens of thousands of Israelis into the streets week after week since January — a grass-roots spectrum of veterans, academics, tech workers and doctors — said passing the bill would unleash even greater fury.
For the ultra-Orthodox and ultranationalist parties that gave Netanyahu his four-seat majority in the Knesset — bringing him back to power after a year and a half on the sidelines — the courts have been a barrier to their long-standing ambition of centering religious conservatism in public spaces and government policy. The court has limited draft exemptions for Yeshiva students, for example, and been a check on the confiscation of land in the West Bank, where some cabinet members are pushing for de facto annexation.
For Israel’s more liberal residents in the tech and cultural hubs along the Mediterranean coast, the courts have been one of the few counterweights to the growing power of the right wing. Reducing judicial authority, they say, risks putting Israel on the path to autocracy and even theocracy, with religious leaders dictating more aspects of civic life.
Haarez is a newspaper on the Left, Haaretz describes itself as having "a broadly liberal outlook both on domestic issues and on international affairs", and has been summarized as being "liberal on security, civil rights and economy, supportive of the Supreme Court, very critical of Netanyahu's government". says: Netanyahu’s government is pushing through bills that will significantly weaken Israel’s judicial system. What does he want? Who is protesting? What is at stake? : So I see the split of Left vs Right politics more religious, actually between Orthodox and Reformed or even more Hellenistic approach since Israel has always been created as a religious life, whereas the USA was created to be free of religious dominance of one over the other. Our distant Jewish kings, David and son Solomon, were religious autocrats sprinkling in reasonableness with their decrees. That's why they were so remembered as the great ones.
Netanyahu would not have won votes this time and his position as PM without the Orthodox arm of politics. He is forced to be reasonable with them, favoring them, in this position, as they haven't had any power before and were seeing their land given away to the Palestinians, first by the British in the original self-serving deals of Great Britain, and then by Jews uneducated in their own life-history but just wanted to get a deal-any deal would do.
Nearly 40,000 Ukrainians, Russians, and Belarussians become Israeli citizens, driving 148% overall increase over same period in 2021; about 35,800 Ukrainian refugees from war also arrive. In this undated photo, Immigration and Absorption Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata welcomes immigrants (Noga Malsa)
By contrast, after a sharp spike in 2021, immigration from the United States to Israel reverted last year to its pre-pandemic levels. The total number of immigrants who moved to Israel in 2022 totaled 74,915 – compared with 28,601 the previous year. The spike occurred starting in March, right after Russia invaded Ukraine. When I was in Israel, I was able to vote, and I had not done anything about becoming a citizen like I did 5 years later.
The original pioneers of Israel are deceased, and Israelis today, remnants of our past, are made up of many Jews uneducated in our history, but are newly arrived from such places as Russia-a country where religion was outlawed of any type, or Ukraine. In fact, it's a condition sweeping most of our planet. Russia is not alone in this, a technological society where AI is becoming the ruler, and Israel is aiming to be one of the first in this. And here we are; G-d help Israel if they change the Judicial powers according to the masses. Netanyahu then will not be able to help himself with unfair charges by the courts by finally overhauling their Supreme Court, a poor reason for improvement, but...time for it anyway.
On July 20, 2023, the Israeli government began implementing changes to travel procedures for U.S. citizens who may now request to enter Israel visa-free for short term visits up to 90 days for business, tourism, or transit. Under the updated travel policies, Israel has committed to treating U.S. citizens equally, without regard to national origin, religion, or ethnicity. Israel is finalizing additional updates to its travel procedures to apply to U.S. citizens who are currently or have been residents of Gaza. That means that Palestinians with US citizenship are receiving the same treatment as other people, but evidently US citizens have been getting special treatment. One does not have to ask why. Terrorism must be halted and it's been Palestinians who have been the terrorists, mostly.
In the USA, "Although the Supreme Court may hear an appeal on any question of law provided it has jurisdiction, it usually does not hold trials. Instead, the Court's task is to interpret the meaning of a law, to decide whether a law is relevant to a particular set of facts, or to rule on how a law should be applied.
How are Supreme Court Justices selected? The President nominates someone for a vacancy on the Court and the Senate votes to confirm the nominee, which requires a simple majority. In this way, both the Executive and Legislative Branches of the federal government have a voice in the composition of the Supreme Court.
These are typically cases that the Court considers sufficiently important to require their review; a common example is the occasion when two or more of the federal courts of appeals have ruled differently on the same question of federal law. They are used as the last word. Their power is used completely differently from Israel's Supreme Court power.
Resource:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/07/24/israel-judicial-reform-passes/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_Israel
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/israel-biden-netanyahu-judicial-overhaul-protests-rcna95053
No comments:
Post a Comment