Israel just had elections a few months ago, the 1st of November, if I remember correctly. The present coalition has only been in office a very short time, and the streets are full of Leftist political rabble-rousers. Gevalt, why am I using such a weak, harmless term for them?
The truth is that foreign anti-Israel money/backers are trying to destroy the country. They've crafted slogans that totally mask/distort their true aim. The vast majority of the demonstrators haven't a clue as to the truth, nor the meaning of democracy.
Yes, they claim they're for DEMOCRACY, but their very being on the streets demanding that the legally DEMORATICALLY ELECTED government surrender to their demands is totally absurdly UNDEMOCRATIC.
Bibi Netanyahu's not handling this with the skill and competence he once had. He's of retirement age, and it shows.
Contrary to the demonstrators' main slogan, Israel's present way of choosing judges is undemocratic and unknown in any of the world's democracies. Israel's "founding fathers" were controlled by a cadre of Leftists, socialists who wanted to make sure that if any of the Revisionists the forerunners of the Likud would ever form a ruling coalition, the Judicial System would remain Leftist. That's why they came up with the idea that the High Court Justices and members of the "Bar" have a majority of the votes in choosing replacements.
I may not agree with their policies and priorities, but I wouldn't call them stupid. That's why even though for most of the past forty-five 45 years the Likud has been able to make more Right wing coalitions, they have been stymied policy-wise by the Leftist High Court.
When former President of Israel's High Court demands that it is of the utmost importance that the court remain "independent," he means that the court must be the true ruler of the State of Israel. Barak invented a principle of "reasonableness" to decide if a law should stand or not. That's his euphemism for being consistent with his political ideology, not any law or legal precedent. He set himself up as an unelected dictator, and then passed the powers to his replacements, whom he put into power. Is that democracy?
Judicial Reform is an attempt to correct this political anomaly and make Israel more like other democracies. But to be honest, it doesn't go far enough. It's still based on the old system but will give a bit more votes to the Knesset members. And considering that the justices don't resign/retire all that quickly, it will take a long time for us to see any real differences. Of course the sitting justices will claim the law "illegal."
But in the meantime thousands of Israelis are having fun at "street carnivals" trying to take down the legally elected government and sowing chaos in the country. Obviously, they are wealthy enough to take off from work, or someone is....
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