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**JANUARY 20, 2023**

Kuttner on TAP

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**** Will Biden Save Israel From
Its Worst Instincts?

The U.S. has only days to act before Netanyahu destroys the Israeli High
Court.

Yesterday, Harvard reversed itself and reinstated a human rights
fellowship for former Human Rights Watch director Kenneth Roth. The dean
of the Kennedy School, Doug Elmendorf, had previously vetoed the offer
to Roth, claiming that some of the group's statements were
antisemitic. An uproar followed, and Elmendorf issued a groveling and
disingenuous apology
<[link removed]>.

This came just a few hours after the Israeli High Court of Justice ruled
that Aryeh Deri, leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, could not
serve in the Cabinet because of his past criminal activity
<[link removed]>.
Deri is one of the most extreme figures in Benjamin Netanyahu's
government, with two Cabinet posts and the added title of deputy prime
minister.

Even before that ruling, the new government was laying plans to strip
the court's power to protect rights, via a law that would allow all
High Court rulings to be overturned by a simple majority in parliament.
The Israeli press has speculated
<[link removed]> that the Deri ruling
was the Court's way of calling the question before Netanyahu could
move first.

And by no small coincidence, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake
Sullivan was in Jerusalem this week conferring with top officials. The
three events are of course connected. What connects them is the parlous
future of Israeli democracy-and what the Biden administration will do
to preserve what remains of it.

Harvard tried to cancel Roth because Human Rights Watch, which reports
on rights violations worldwide, refused to cut Israel any special slack.
A 2021 report
<[link removed]>
by the group described Israel's system as apartheid and provided ample
documentation. The pro-Israel lobby went ballistic, condemned the report
as antisemitic, and then sought to block Roth's Harvard appointment.

If Netanyahu prevails in his plan to neuter the Israeli High Court, he
will be free to make Israel that much more of an apartheid state and
that much less of a democracy.

At this writing, the Netanyahu coalition was considering whether to obey
the court and oust Deri from the Cabinet, or to accelerate the attack on
the court and defy its order.

Israel does not have a written constitution or a bill of rights. What
has kept it even a semi-democracy is that all parties have respected the
independence of the courts. If that goes, democracy goes. A massive
protest
<[link removed]>
demonstration against weakening the judiciary is planned for tomorrow.

Netanyahu is counting on the Israel lobby to temper any strong U.S.
reaction. But Netanyahu's government represents a radical escalation
of human rights violations that were already abhorrent. And the
criticism from American Jews now goes well beyond reformist groups like
J Street.

Abe Foxman, the retired longtime leader of the Anti-Defamation League,
said last month, "If Israel ceases to be an open democracy, I won't be
able to support it.
<[link removed]>"
He added in an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, "It's not
one thing. It's a whole package of things, which is bringing us back
to the Middle Ages."

So, should friends of Zionism, as presently twisted, cancel Abe Foxman?

The mainstream Union for Reform Judaism went further. Their statement
warns
<[link removed]>:

Because Israel has no constitution, no bill of rights, and no second
parliamentary chamber, the High Court is the only check and balance in
existence ... These proposed changes are particularly egregious given
that the current coalition is specifically attacking the rights of
Reform Jews, members of the LGBTQ+ community, Arabs and
Palestinian-Israelis, and other minorities.

Ultimately, only Joe Biden can rein in Netanyahu, and time is running
out. The U.S. pours billions into Israel every year. He needs to bluntly
warn Netanyahu: If you destroy the independence of Israel's courts,
U.S. aid is suspended.

Biden has been a pleasant surprise in many respects. But on Israel he
has never showed much gumption. The construction of Donald Trump's
U.S. embassy in Jerusalem is proceeding. The U.S. ambassador to Israel,
Tom Nides, is a traditionalist. The U.S. works with Israel on other
pressing issues, such as Iran.

Can Biden please bring forth a miracle?

~ ROBERT KUTTNER

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McCarthy's 21 Republican Defectors Didn't Get Much
<[link removed]>
That's because the party already agreed with them. BY DAVID DAYEN

USDA Ignores Its Own Proposed Labor Standards
<[link removed]>
The department has yet to implement a rule requiring its contractors to
obey labor laws. BY LUKE GOLDSTEIN & JAROD FACUNDO

Altercation: Deal-Making Republican 'Pragmatists'? Like, Who?
<[link removed]>
The 'moderates' who want a debt default: a case study in
journalistic destruction of the meaning of words BY ERIC ALTERMAN

 

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