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By Guy Milliere
(MAY 15, 2023 / GATESTONE INSTITUTE) It is the first time in Israel's short history that a large-scale movement has been launched using undemocratic means to overthrow a democratically elected government.
The new government, in fact, is trying to restore democracy – by reforming Supreme Court practices that were adopted starting in the 1990s, which allow unelected, unaccountable Supreme Court justices to deliver rulings based on "reasonableness" rather than on written law – often meaning, "whatever I think is reasonable".
Israel's Supreme Court is currently said to have "virtually limitless power": it asserts the right to veto both political appointments and military decisions; it has no mechanism for recourse, and no requirement for "standing" -- meaning that the litigant need not be directly affected by the decision, such as having a personal wrong righted. On the contrary, anyone can directly petition the Supreme Court, anytime, about anything. The last provision has opened the floodgates for lawsuits by "concerned" non-governmental organizations dissatisfied with decisions Israel has taken. In addition, sitting Supreme Court justices – not the electorate and not the parliament – have the power to approve or veto any appointment of new justices, leading to a closed "club" in which no one is flustered by dissent.
Yair Lapid, former interim prime minister until December 2022, was in New York in April, to meet the leaders of American Jewish organizations. He also urged the overthrow of Israel's democratically elected government. " You have a voice," he encouraged leaders of American Jewish organizations, "and you have the right to use it."
The leaders of a nonprofit organization, Am Echad, committed to strengthening the connection between Israel and Jews outside it, replied:
"It is disingenuous of you to accuse the government of undermining Israeli democracy and calling on American Jews to get up in arms to protect Israel from its own leadership."
Other Israeli politicians and former military chiefs joined in. Moshe Ya'alon, a former Defense Minister and former IDF Chief of General Staff accused Netanyahu of "sacrificing democracy" and of being "ready to burn down the country and its values". Former IDF Chief of General Staff Gadi Eisenkot claimed that Netanyahu and his government are "badly harming the national interests of the State of Israel". And so on.
By contrast, Morton Klein, head of the Zionist Organization of America, said that "Lapid's traitorous trip is a disgrace that has cemented his status as head of the 'disloyal Opposition.'" Klein accused Lapid of "sowing anarchy and fomenting outside foreign pressures that trample upon the will of the Israeli public."
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