Gaza War Musings #78 Deals Don't Bring Peace!! Israel Must Act as an Independent Sovereign Country!!

 

Unfortunately, our weak, woke hapless Prime Minister Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu has relinquished our sovereignty to American President Donald Trump. We never hear Bibi forcibly and confidently objecting to Trump's plans, deals and demands reminding him that he is President of the USA, and he has no authority over Israel. Actually, I don't think we hear anyone in the Israeli Government say that we're not property of the United States. 

Israelis, whether politicians, officeholders, journalists or just plain citizens should be protesting in every way possible about American interference in our security. The USA is not a loyal ally. Its government and policies change with the wind, depending on the moods and priorities of its politicians, military and bureaucrats. 

Please remember well that when former US President Harry Truman ordered the American UN Ambassador to vote in favor of Partition for a Jewish State and a few months later officially recognized the State of Israel, he was forcibly defying the State Department's directives. 

American Government bureaucracy, like the Israeli, considers itself superior to the elected executive and legislature. That is actually what the attempt for Judicial Reform was about. Bibi didn't fight for it, nor taking down the Defense Department's glass ceiling, because he needs the support of the bureaucrats to stay in office. He's not a fighter. He loves the limelight, but his true power is much smaller than people think.

Back to Trump and his deals...

Donald Trump is a business man, a real estate mogul. He's neither a military man, a theologian nor a historian. Bringing true peace to "the Middle East" is 10,000% different from developing Manhattan's West Side and turning a dangerous deteriorating slum area into a beautiful, popular upper-middleclass neighborhood. Turning a muddy Manhattan shoreline into an attractive park walking distance from new lovely, attractive apartment houses takes totally different skills and mindset compared to turning terrorist Gaza into a peaceful society. 

Poverty isn't the reason for the popularity and dominance of terrorism in Gaza. Gazans could grow their own food, plus for export if they wanted to. But they don't want to and they don't need to. Most of the outside world wants to see them as "starving," so instead of using their energies and manpower for farming and industry, as the Jewish residents of the very successful Gush Katif did, they prefer "charity" so they can use their energy and money to attack Israel in the cruelest of ways.

Think about it.

And back to the fiction that a deal can end a war... 

Would a "deal" have stopped Nazi Germany or Japan?

Nope!

Hamas/Gaza War Musings #65: Bibi's "Guilt?"

The so-called corruption trials against PM Binyamin Netanyahu have been in the news even more recently. He took US President Trump's hint to ask for a "pardon," which is a mistake for many reasons. The charges are classic "warfare." No proof of any crime has turned up, and even worse... it's no secret that a crew of "legal experts" dedicated their time to search for something to pin on Bibi. So far, no crimes have been proven.

If you read my blog and Facebook, you'll know that I consider him a dangerous failure as Prime Minister, but not a criminal. This horrid, dangerous war is proof of his total incompetence. Please remember the simple fact that Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu has been Prime Minister for close to twenty 20, yes TWENTY YEARS. The "buck stops" on his desk and no place else. 

Bibi's guilty but not of a criminal-type crime. It's simple over-ambition and incompetence.

Bibi Netanyahu's guilt includes his way of governing, allowing the "glass ceilings" to continue in the Justice Department, Defense Department, Shabak, Police, IDF etc. In that sense, he has been following what Menachem Begin did when he became Prime Minister in 1977. Begin didn't replace the powerful government employees who control what really happens in government.  The Labor Left never left the power it had even before the State of Israel was declared. They were the only Jews recognized by the British Mandate rulers as authorities. Anyone associated with the Jabotinsky Revisionists, Etzel or Lechi (Stern Gang) were discriminated against. Labor Zionists had them turned in to the British to be jailed and hung during the notorious immoral Sezon. 

Who's in charge? 

The problem I'm referring to can be traced back to 1977 when Menachem Begin, heading Likud, got the most Knesset seats and was able to form a ruling coalition. Likud was a relatively new party which combined a number of Right wing and anti-socialist, pro-capitalism parties. 

Merger of	Gahal (Herut and Liberal Party), Free Centre, National List and Movement for Greater Israel

Actually for years, Menachem Begin had politically aligned with the Liberal Party making גח"ל GaCHaL, Gush Cherut Liberalism. The Liberal Party wasn't "liberal" as a "leftist" party. Its ideology was free market capitalism, totally against the socialist/communist policies of David Ben-Gurion and crew. Cleaning Israel of socialism was the only real change Menachem Begin's government accomplished. Davka, Netanyahu even served as Minister of Finance 2003–2005, at which he did a good job. If Menachem Begin had been as determined to make real change in Israeli bureaucracy as his Liberal colleagues, the country would be in better shape today, and there would be no need for Judicial Reform, removing the glass ceiling in the IDF, major change in what's taught as Israeli History in schools etc.

During all those years Netanyahu has had the power and responsibility to make these reforms, but he hasn't. That's what he's guilty of, only wanting the honors of being Prime Minister, but not doing the really hard critical part of the job to make Israel a better, stronger and more truly democratic country. Those who have been consistently losing elections, the Left, is still running the country. 

Hamas/Gaza War Musings #47: Bibi, The Worst of Menachem Begin

This is related to War Musings #46, so if you haven't read it, I recommend that you do so. Both of these posts show how we're suffering from the mistakes made and never corrected decades ago. Here I concentrate more on one of the late Prime Minister Menachem Begin made. No, I don't get into Begin's Sinai withdrawal and destruction of numerous Israeli communities in the Sinai, aka the Camp David Accords.

What concerns me the most is how Begin's, and more recently, Bibi's avoiding cleaning the bureaucracy of those who obviously want to sabotage their government policies. In Begin's time, the Foreign Ministry, stocked with Leftist Labor supporters, didn't advise him according to his supporters' and voters' policies. People didn't vote him in to withdraw from the Sinai and destroy Jewish communities. It's very probable that Begin's depression towards the end of his rule, wasn't just because of the death of his beloved wife, but because his policies had alienated his closest friends and supporters.

When Begin's party got the most seats in the 1977 elections, it was a surprise for all. As I remember, none of the polls predicted such a political upheaval. Begin didn't have an "army" of followers to take over the bureaucracy. I don't think he had a real plan for an eventual win. For nineteen years, Herut and Liberals felt that they'd be permanent Opposition.

Upon establishing his government, instead of doing what was technically legal, replace government workers involved with policy. Instead he tried to make "friends" with them, called it being "noble," by not firing the Labor followers and Histadrut members. So political appointees became permanent policy makers, and they made sure the "right" people succeeded them, "a friend brings a friend." That's how the Judicial, the IDF, Foreign Ministry and the Shabak etc still follow Leftist Labor policies, even though the Labor party hasn't had a Prime Minister for decades. The only real ideological success/change was that Begin's Liberal-- meaning non-socialist--political partners did what they were elected to do by breaking the power and monopoly of the Histadrut in economics.

Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu continued the path Menachem Begin. That's why Judicial Reform never got done, nor did he put his own people in important security positions, so on October 7, 2023, he wasn't informed about the signs of Hamas Gazan preparation for war against us. Shabak head Ronen Bar has made it clear that he considers himself over the government and refused to recognize that he had been fired. My big question is why did it take so long for Bibi to even try to fire him...

Here we are a year and a half after that murderous invasion, no closer to #TotalVictory #ניצחוןמוחלט than we were on October 8th. Despite Bibi's brave bombastic speeches, his policies are weak and failing. Our soldiers are being killed, maimed, wounded and are exhausted. We don't act like victors. We haven't returned to Gush Katif. Bibi thinks we can just be policemen aka targets. Bibi doesn't have a vision for a greater future. I predicted this when I heard him speak in 2008.

Israel is at war for its very survival. We must achieve victory. Victory must be combined with Israeli SOVEREIGNTY over all the land we administer, otherwise we'll be at war again and again until we collapse, Gd forbid. Along with sovereignty, we must allow settlement all over. Illegal Arab building must be destroyed. Minimally, don't allow Arabs to build where the Oslo Accords forbade them. More about the Oslo Accords... another time. That's another story.

Pray for strong leadership which is needed for VICTORY, the only way we'll ever see peace and the return of the remaining hostages.

Hamas/Gaza War Musings #27: Ultimate War Aim VICTORY!

 Recently this sign has been seen on the roads. I agree with it.

SAY NO TO A DEAL OF MEANING SURRENDER!
WE MUST BE VICTORIOUS!!

It's not easy to get these slogans into comprehensible English, but I've tried to get the message across. 

I've been too depressed about Israel's policies to blog about the war recently. That's because Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has not been governing/fighting to win. This isn't new. He has failed as Prime Minister and not for the reasons the antigovernment Leftists keep shouting. Their opposition to him is what keeps me going... they remind me that things could be even worse. Yes, if they were in charge.

Follow the money...

The money bags funding these "anyone but Bibi," anti-Bibi, anti-judicial reform etc demonstrations are a gazillion times worse than Bibi. He's horrendously weak, trying to be "centrist" as he unabashedly stated/bragged at the First International Jewish Bloggers Conference as I blogged when I heard it.

The same money sources are funding the anti-Israel American flag-burning demonstrations in the USA. World stability is in danger. The USA is a major problem. Not that long ago, anyone burning an American flag would be arrested; now they're ignored by the police. Schools are teaching that Israel must be destroyed. Jews are in danger. Anyone who sees the holes, the inequality, the inconsistencies and dangers in their ideology has a problem...

Just like in Israel, when they lose elections they take to the streets. Do you remember the NOT MY PRESIDENT demonstrations? 

Netanyahu has been Prime Minister more years than any other person, and at that position he's a good example of the "Peter's Principle, A person rises to his level of incompetence." His true talents, expertise is oratory, not defense, meaning he's make a good Foreign Minister. He was also a great Finance Minister, another talent.

Under Netanyahu's "leadership" sic, we've quit about a dozen wars without winning them. He and his cohorts called them "operations" and decided that lowering the intensity of the attacks, plus using defensive Iron Domes, equaled "winning." 

I kept seeing those other attacks as "target practice" expecting, as did happen, that our dangerous enemies would get better and better aim, more effective in hitting us. 

Bibi's so terrified of a war that instead of fighting our enemies he plays "games," surrendering our land by pulling people out of their homes. Yes, that's what he has done. 

I must write my review of Netanyahu's speech in the US Congress. It follows the same structure as his speech at the bloggers convention in 2008. Listen carefully until the end, and tell me what you've heard.  Yes, I must write up my review...

Gd willing a miracle, true leadership which is the only way we can destroy our enemies.

Hamas/Gaza War Musings #22: Bibi Failed Judicial Reform; Time for New PM from the Right

I have no doubt that Israel desperately needs Judicial Reform, and it's clear to me that Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has sabotaged the campaign. The task to get Judicial Reform passed was given to Minister of Justice Yariv Levin, who had emerged number one in Likud Primaries. 

Bibi threw him under the bus.

1- Bibi didn't use his PR, hasbara, oratory skills to promote the issue.

2- Bibi does not like anyone who may be a competitor/successor. There's a long history of pushing people down and away. He set up Yariv Levin to get schlogged. Remember that Yariv Levin was the #1 vote getter in Likud Primaries. That makes him the obvious successor to Netanyahu who was the automatic #1 on the list.

3- Kohelet Forum assisted Levin and staff in formulating the bill to reform the Judicial system. Now it's is suffering financial difficulties. Bibi has financial sources/backers to help Kohelet, but he'd rather they sink and Judicial Reform fail.

Don't forget that Bibi plays dirty. That's how he destroyed Bennett's government, and that's how he pushed Bennett out of Likud. Yes, Bennett was one of the many. Bibi has been head of the Likud for so long that when I point out his failures to others, they say that there's no one to replace him. That's not true. Bibi has failed too many times. 

We need a truly patriotic and confident leader who won't grovel to the USA for help, nor show it our military plans.... Need I go on?

Hamas/Gaza War Musings #19: Disgusting Condemnation by Biden and Schumer Expected, Because...Simple Math

Most Israelis are furious about the outrageously chutzpadik words of  US Senator Chuck Schumer, his unabashed interference in internal Israeli politics, which has been given full backing by US President Biden. Prime Minister Netanyahu, among others, are ranting that "we're not a banana republic" and other complaints.

But to be perfectly honest, Bibi's constant consultations with Biden, Blinken and other American officials during this dangerous war for our very survival made us looks weak and dependent. As a long-time Israeli, I felt embarrassed, and I'm not the only one. And worse than embarrassed, I felt endangered and then not surprised, as simple as 1+1=2, when the elected head of a country keeps taking advice from another country, he doesn't look like a strong, competent, sovereign leader, so why should he expect to be treated with respect?

Considering that the USA has never fought a war on its own territory for its very survival against terrorists who rape, decapitate etc, I don't see what expertise they have. And the minute Biden started talking about his plans for establishing "Palestine" sic in Israel after the war, Bibi should have cut off all contact. But that topic is for another war musing.

The truth is that the Democrats don't like Bibi and they never have. The Clintons loved Peres, and Obama couldn't even fake a smile when Bibi was in the same room. Biden has a ready smile, but it's fake. He knows the saying:

"You can get catch more flies with honey than vinegar.."

It makes Biden more dangerous, because people don't expect a knife in the back. And now Bibi got stabbed. 

Biden isn't the first American President to be involved with interfering in Israeli elections. Barack Obama's administration financially supported the "anyone but Bibi" crowd nine years ago. Follow the money... I have no doubt that American money has been supporting all of the anti- Bibi/Likud demonstrations which have plagued Israel for years. They've also been supporting the anti-Judicial Reform movement, even though the present Israeli judicial system goes against every fair proper justice principle American law demands. 

The only American President who has treated Israel with proper respect was Donald Trump, who couldn't/can't understand why American Jews continue to support the Democrats who have always treated Israel so poorly.

It's time for the State of Israel to cut its dependence on the United States. Every "gift" we get has strings attached which are really a noose. We get "shop in America only" shopping coupons. Other countries get actual money to spend wherever. These shopping coupons have weakened Israeli military industries. We could be exporting weapons all over the world. Instead we're begging the USA for more bombs. 

Enough is enough! Let's finally be a fully independent country. That's the only way we'll be safe and win this war. We don't need America! 

In 1967 we had no allies, and we won in six days. I remember it well. That's because Gd helped. Yes, simple math...

Letter to Jerusalem Post -Close, but no Cigar- "Five Words for When the War Ends"

In last week's Jerusalem Post, there was an article, Five words for when the war ends, that almost hit the nail on the head, but the writer wanted the head to also hit the nail. That's why the writer, Sherwin Pomerantz doesn't get "the cigar."

On one hand he admits that he and his fellow "dreamers" should admit that they made mistakes in supporting dangerous policies, like Disengagement, trusting the PA to govern properly and the Oslo Accords. Yes, Pomerantz admits that they should say those "five words:" 

"I'm sorry, you were right."

Unfortunately, after that he wants us to say those words, too, for... honestly, I can't figure out what we did wrong. The latest government coalition finally began to act against the judicial dictatorship proposing judicial reform. Pomerantz blames us for causing the demonstrations against the reform, even though he admits in his article that the judicial needed to be reined in:

"On this same subject, the leadership of Israel’s Supreme Court in the years prior to 2022 also needs to say to all of us, “I’m sorry, you were right!” Their arrogating power to themselves to regularly override the prerogative of the elected representatives of the people to make laws was, in itself, a festering wound that culminated in the push by the Right last year to “take the country” back at they liked to say."

Pomerantz claims that the pro Judicial Reform demonstrations made Israel look weak and vulnerable which caused the Hamas terrorists to attack on October 7. He totally ignores that his friends, the "dreamers," had been calling for reservists, pilots and ordinary soldiers to refuse their army duty. That gave the terrorists the confidence to attack. He and his "dreamer" friends caused us to experience a nightmare that isn't over yet after over 100 days!

Why did the Jerusalem Post publish such a piece?

Here's the letter I wrote to the Jerusalem Post. So far it hasn't been published, and I don't know if it will be. I probably should have saved and edited it the next day to make it clearer and reread the article another few times:

Sherwin Pomerantz almost gets it, OK let's say partially gets it. I have a decade more than him here in Israel, which I'm mentioning, since he made a point saying that he's here forty years in the blurb identifying who he is and why he considers himself qualified to voice these opinions. 

Pomerantz starts off very well admitting that he and his fellow travelers erred in supporting Disengagement, trusted the PA to develop a Singapore in Gaza and thought the Oslo Accords something wonderful should say to those of us who disagreed:

"I'm sorry, you were right."

But then he shows that he still doesn't get it. He can't get a handle the importance of Judicial Reform on the unjust justice system here where, as we just saw in the recent high court action, eight unelected "justices" claim the right to overrule/veto the votes of millions of Israelis, because of politics-- OK they used a euphemism "reasonableness," meaning they just don't agree with the ideology. He's blaming brave Yariv Levin and other coalition MKs who were sent by Prime Minister Netanyahu to Reform the Judicial System, without the backup of Bibi's legendary oratory skills and hasbara. (My guess is that they had been sent to fail, but that would be the topic of a longer letter or an op-ed or whatever.)

It's unreasonable and unrealistic to think that those who control our Department of Justice will voluntarily agree to follow the law, the rule of the Knesset.

The anti-reform demonstrations were funded and led by the same --follow the money-- as those who funded the "crime minister" anti-Bibi demonstrations a few years before. It was the anti-reform and anti-religious demonstrators that were tearing the country apart, like they ripped the prayer books on Yom Kippur. This was not the fault of the government.

And I hate to break it to Pomerantz, but our President Herzog's job is not to be the "national leader." It's more like an American Vice President for formal things and meeting ambassadors. When Biden gave great honors to Herzog during his visit, while pointedly refusing to invite Bibi, it was a diplomatic insult to our PM, actually interfering with internal Israeli affairs. 

Just to clarify, I'm not a Bibiist and didn't vote Likud. I think that his time to retire has long passed. There are many talented potential national leaders in the coalition.

 

 

Israel Attacked by Hamas 2023/5784, War Musings #6 - CONCEPTZIOT Misconceptions Ad Nauseum, Recipe for Disaster

In 1967, Israel's totally miraculous Six Days War victory "rounded out our borders" to sensible and defensible lines. We were finally surrounded by water and mountains, instead of drunken nonsensical indefensible scribbles on a map. But somehow Israel's Leftist rulers turned that victory into defeat, as they made it clear that most of the land liberated, in a totally defensive war, was being offered to the Arabs in exchange for "peace." 

So Sorry We Won, by E. Kishon, Dosh 

Call that "conceptzia" misconception #1. The ridiculous idea that the Arabs could be peace partners, coupled with the dangerous idea that we could defend easily defend another zigzag border was based on the double fantasy that Arabs wanted peace and Jordan wanted them back. The label "Palestinian" for the local Arabs was still pretty new; their identities were more connected to the local city. The local Arabs had never thought themselves a single people. The United Nations and an alphabet soup of NGO's have been working hard over the decades to brainwash them to accept their new identity.

"Conceptzia" misconception #2 was that mighty Israel had done such a great job defeating three Arab armies in 1967 that they'd never want to mess with us ever again. 

Maybe as the dust settled and the fighting ended, the Arabs feared Israel, but as soon as they realized that Israel wasn't interested in playing strong victor, they lost all respect for us.

Due to some perverse Leftist ideology that we could win over our enemies with kindness, security has gone down and Arab terrorism has been rising. Add to that, for some totally fokokt nonsensical reason, Israel's defense policies have been based on some Christian notion, which isn't obeyed by any Christian country, to "turn the other cheek," to passively absorb aggressive blows. And then there's what you can call "Conceptzia" misconception #3, that if an Arab isn't shooting, stabbing he/she must be an innocent sic civilian. 

Instead of being pragmatic and careful the Leftists who still control the IDF, Ministry of Defense, Foreign Ministry, Judicial ad nauseum have been overruling the wishes of the public who vote for parties and politicians who are more REALISTIC aka Right. That's what Judicial Reform is about. Since the Left can't win an election, the justices have decided that they have the right to override/veto laws and decisions voted by Knesset Members who had been elected by Israeli citizens.

That's how Israel has gotten into this war for its very survival. 

WE MUST FIGHT TO WIN! 

Israeli Democracy? Justice? Are You Confused?

Let's start with the easy stuff.

What's Democracy?

I decided to "printscreen" what professor google says about democracy,
so you can trust that I didn't edit/distort the meaning

There's nothing about Right/Left or Conservative/Liberal. It's in the numbers.

Democracy is broadly understood to mean ‘rule by the people’. In practice, it is often defined as people choosing their leaders in free and fair elections. 

Our World in Data

Democracy means that the country's leadership isn't decided in the street.

There are elections.

A democratic government is not chosen by who makes the loudest, most annoying and dangerous demonstrations. Nor does it give priority to people shouting in the street over legal elections.

Now, back to what has been going on in Israel. In the past half a decade plus, we've had multiple elections that ended without a new ruling coalition, and we haven't had a coalition/government that lasted its full term. 

Political parties which had dominated and ruled during the first few decades of the country no longer receive enough votes to be in the Knesset or if they are in, they are anorexic shadows of what they once were. This has been difficult for their supporters to accept. They and their parents, and in some cases grandparents, never liked the Netanyahu family, and they like the Revisionist founders of Herut/Likud even less. This is what is behind the irrational hatred of Binyamin Netanyahu. Remember that the demonstrations had actually begun during Netanyahu's previous terms as Prime Minister. 

We can't ignore the trials against Netanyahu. Even though years and much too much money have been invested in trying to convict him, the chances are nil. That's because they're trumped up charges, to put it mildly. Please ignore the unintended pun. If Bibi was really guilty of corruption, then it wouldn't have been hard to convict him, since the judges don't like him. 

To sum it up, the "anyone but Bibi" movement, along with the anti-Judicial Reform has nothing to do with his competence or honesty. It's the fading Left's attempt to override democratic elections and rule by street mobs with the help of the Leftist Supreme Court Judges.

Yes, the truth is that the opposition are those who are antidemocracy!

The Street vs Democracy-- FOLLOW THE MONEY

 

screenshot from Channel 14 News
Last night's antigovernment demonstration

It seems like the whole world has heard that the legally, democratically elected Israeli Government has passed a very necessary law to reform the judiciary, which has set itself up as the alternative government vetoing laws. The judiciary is very political. One law for the Left and another for the Right.

To be perfectly honest and accurate the demonstrations predate the present government's bill for judicial reform. 

For those trying to understand the basic issue here in Israel. Very simple. Judges have put themselves above the parliament and rule according to their opinions and ideologies, rather than laws. They have declared themselves above the law with rights to veto according to their personal feelings aka reasonableness. They can perpetuate their politics by choosing their successors. Basically this has disenfranchised the voters and made a farce out of elections. Yes, the judges and their supporters are the antidemocracy group.

Israel is a parliamentary democracy. We vote for political parties. After most elections, the leader of the party that has received the most votes manages to negotiate a coalition with other parties which has more than half of the 120 Members of Knesset. The Likud has gotten the most votes/seats in most recent elections including the November, 2022 elections, in which he and a few other political parties campaigned as a block promising to form a stable coalition. That's what happened, so therefore according to Israeli law and democracy Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu is the legal Prime Minister of the State of Israel. 

For the past few years, definitely predating those recent elections, there has been a well-funded movement to push Bibi out of his number one position in Likud and out the office of Prime Minister. It's called "ANYONE BUT BIBI." For years when he had previously been PM, including the COVID lockdown, there had been weekly demonstrations near the official prime minister's residence calling for Bibi's ouster. This was hell for the neighbors, since the courts/judges insisted that in their superior wisdom, the demonstrators' rights trumped theirs. And when during the COVID lockdown schools, synagogues and many places of work had been forced to be closed, the judges decided that demonstrations must continue...

There was quiet during the year that Naftali Bennett's government stood, which continued when it fell and Yair Lapid was interim Prime Minister. Since Netanyahu returned to office not only have the demonstrations returned bigger and better equipped than before, but their spokespeople/leaders have become louder and more outrageous. Led by two former disgraced Prime Ministers, Ehud Olmert* and Ehud Barak** we now hear unabashed calls for rebellion and refusal to serve in the IDF. This is treason, no less. They are basically calling on the Israeli public to destroy the country. But the courts are in their favor and find nothing wrong.

These antigovernment demonstrations are very expensive to run. Who's funding them? It's no secret that money is coming from abroad, and some of that money has been traced to the American Government. Administrations led by Democrat Party Presidents do not like working with Netanyahu. Obama couldn't find his famous smile when posing with Bibi.

It's clear that there's something very dirty going on. These demonstrations, riots etc. have nothing to do with wanting democracy for the State of Israel. The leaders are bamboozling their followers with slogans. The street isn't democracy. Let's find out who's really behind this.

FOLLOW THE MONEY

*Olmert had spent time in jail convicted on corruption charges. 

**Barak is known to have been a good friend of disgraced Jeffrey Epstein, besides other problematic relationships

Israel's Judicial Reform Explained

 Here is the clearest explanation of the need for Judicial Reform in Israel:

Please listen carefully.

Challenge to All Who Think Judicial Reform for Israel is Dangerous

Just a simple challenge to help clarify what's happening in Israel. 

All I want to know from you...

Please list five 5 democracies, five democratic countries, that have a judicial system like Israel's is now. 

The points that have to coincide (be the same) are:

1- Sitting justices choose who will be new justices.
2- Justices can decide according to their concept of "reasonableness." This includes overriding all parliament decisions, total veto power.
3- Cases for the Supreme Court can go there directly, without first going through lower courts
4- Attorney General can veto all sorts of government decisions unilaterally. Again with the rationale of "reasonableness."

Israeli Flags waving at the entrance of Mamilla Mall, not far from 
what had been the border between Israel and Jordanian Occupied Jerusalem from 1949-1967

Politics vs Democracy: Why The Left Doesn't Want Judicial Reform

 

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....

. 

Antidemocracy Rioters Disrupt Life in Jerusalem -- The Truth About Judicial Reform

Black day for Israeli democracy and liberty. 

Please get this right. I'm talking about the attempt by the elitist Israeli Left to overthrow the legally elected government. 

Democracy is a numbers game. It means that if you get the most votes, you've won. In Israel, to be more precise, if you can create a coalition of a majority of the 120 Members of Knesset, 61 or more that's a legal government. THAT'S DEMOCRACY! 

If you didn't get enough votes to create a coalition, if you don't have the MKs, you've lost. That's it. Very simple. Try harder next time. Marching and screaming in the streets won't give you the right to rule. If you insist on demonstrating, then you're acting like fascists or worse. I don't know why those demonstrators on Monday took black flags, but it really showed their true color. 

They can scream all they want, but grow up! That won't give them more votes, more MKs. Rule by taking over the streets? That's dystopia, not utopia.

The antidemocracy anti-judicial reform protests on Monday stopped public transportation and inconvenienced, to put it mildly, tens of thousands or more ordinary Israelis like myself. I had been at the Jerusalem Botanical Gardens with the Ayelet Chapter of Amit Women and discovered that bus service to the center of Jerusalem or Ammunition Hill, where I needed to get a bus home to Shiloh, had been stopped. Yes, the buses were stopped because of those demonstrators.

Thank Gd, I found the physical strength to walk, and please remember that in a few months Gd willing I'll be 74, towards the lightrail on King George and Yaffo. I finally caught a bus on King George and took it less than two stops. Why less? That very junction where I needed to transfer from the bus to the lightrail had been taken over by the mobs, and the bus had been forced to stop, and the lightrail stopped, too.

Since the rioters had stopped public transportation, I was forced to keep walking and finally caught a bus at the Buchari Shuk.

It was clear that the demonstrators were having fun, but lots of ordinary Jerusalemites and visitors like myself were inconvenienced and angry. I saw people trying to explain to the rioters that they were interfering with our human rights, but... you can finish the sentence...

These antigovernment demonstrations/riots have been going on since Netanyahu's previous administration, then stopped when he was out of office and now resumed. Now they're harping on the Judicial Reform issue. They claim that the judges need "independence." That's absurd! 

Do you know what they mean by it? They mean that judges should use their "judgement," their personal ideology/philosophy to decide what's right and just. They don't decide according to law. They decide if a law suits their moral, political opinions. That's means that the courts are political, not legally based. Not only that! They get to choose their replacements. It's not the elected Knesset Members who choose judges, it's the judges themselves. That way, although the judges don't hold the opinions of the majority of the citizens, they can perpetuate their ideological power over the citizens and the elected government. 

Does that sound kosher to you?

Who made them god? 

Most of us ordinary Israelis are too busy getting through our busy days to take to the streets, like the elitist Leftists. Also, we did our patriotic duty, voted. There's a coalition that holds the ideology of the majority of Israelis. We definitely need Judicial Reform, so our courts will be based on law, not politics.

Why should the minority have the right utter chutzpah to overrule the majority?

Davka, very much like last week's Torah Portion, Yitro, someone who isn't Israeli explains our situation very well, Mark Levin. Please listen to what he has to say.

Israel's Political System and Judicial Reform-- What's Going On?

I almost titled this post "Israeli Judicial Reform for Dummies," but didn't want to antagonize people. Also the topic is no joke. This is serious stuff, and it's complicated.

Oy. Where should I start?

Let's start with the Israeli political system, which may be unique; though others may be similar in some ways. Let the adjectives used here be different or unique. I don't want any judgmental ones like better and worse. It doesn't pay to go there, since there is no country like the State of Israel in size, history, sociology, security needs etc. Being a democracy, Israel has developed into the country we know today, and in most ways it actually works well. 

Israel is a Parliamentary Democracy. Our parliament, called the Knesset, has one hundred and twenty 120 members. There are many political parties represented in the Knesset, and certainly even more that didn't get enough votes to be included. Now a party needs 4.5% of the votes, called the Electoral Threshold, to get any of their list in.

Each political party submits a list to election board by a certain date, and it's according to the order on the list that people become Members of Knesset. After the votes are counted, the failed parties subtracted and the numbers of MKs per party calculated, the President of the State of Israel then calls the leader #1 of the largest party and offers him/her to chance to form a coalition.

OK, I know that some of you are jumping in your seats trying to get my attention and ask why we have so many political parties. I'll start with a joke:

"two Jews five opinions"

OK, some say only three opinions, but Israeli society is too complex --remember that Israeli Arabs also vote and have a few political parties-- for two political parties to suffice. The political/social spectrum isn't a simple right/left. It also includes religious observance and many other factors. 

The Knesset reflects Israeli diversity, and that diversity isn't reflected at all in the High Court. The democratically elected MKs do not have a say in who sits as a justice on that court. The justices vote in their replacements, and they choose very carefully to find people who follow their ideology, which is far to the Left of the Israeli population. In recent years they have been making legal decisions that go against laws voted in by the elected MKs. That's not democracy. 

The justices don't base their decision on laws. They base their decisions on their political ideology, which is what they treasure and want to preserve. They call it "judicial independence." It's davka that "independence" which endangers Israeli democracy. 

Justice Minister Yariv Levin's plan will reduce the power of the High Court in a number of ways. I'm not getting into the details of the laws he proposes. You can click Judicial Reform for the details. I just wanted to show that reform is needed. 

Nobody has the right to play god, not even High Court justices.