Sometimes it's very difficult, even years after my aliyah to truly comprehend how things work here. The Supreme Court is a perfect example.
In the United States the justices must decide according to the American Constitution and their interpretation of it. Of course their own personal philosophy colors and influences their decisions. I remember that one of my "Social Studies" teachers explained that:
"Law is whatever 5 out of 9 justices decide it is, and it can change from year to year."
Here in Israel, there is no constitution; there's just a hodge podge of laws, including some from the British Mandate that were never revoked. The Israeli justices take their responsibilities very seriously as "moral guides." In actuality, they make the law, rather than interpret it.
Not only do they decide what is legal; they also decide what is moral and mix up the two concepts. Their recent decision, that Israeli soldiers cannot ask the neighbors of suspected terrorists to knock on the door seriously endangers our soldiers. This doesn't concern the Supreme Court Justices. What concerns them is the protection of Arabs, even those who may be terrorists. This is a moral decision, having no connection to law, and what's the morality in endangering Israeli soldiers?
That's the issue behind the movement my neighbor, Moshe Keinan, started after his son, Avihu, was killed in a badly planned army action. That's why we have been marching to Jerusalem every Succot in recent years.
This perverse morality endangers our very existence.
Chodesh Tov
2 comments:
when was the court created? from the outset '48?
there are bizarre, and socially stratifying decisions made in Courts worldwide. from Sharia extremes to technicalities that allow dreg expressions as free speech; all of the Courts swing with some abusive decisions. you may recall that during the 2000 vote in the US; justices used a dictionary to define a word. dictionaries are as arbitrary as crosstown opinions but a dictionary was used as an "authority."
in Israel: when would the Court have transitioned to it's current disposition where it nitpicks Israeli behavior and micro-manages IDF activity? when did the Court begin making decisions that demoralize Israelis?
is there a specific point in time where the Court became extremist?
it would be interesting to see what other machinations occured globally at the hypothetical time this Court went off the deep end.
JohnPod
JP, good questions. I guess it started in the beginning of the state and has just gotten more "confident" and extreme with time.
YY, You're right. It doesn't matter who's PM, it's the court which is ruling!
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