The State of Israel is a democratic state. At least that is how it is perceived by many. Unlike Arab countries, where dictators who were elected on their own accord rule. Here in the Jewish state, representatives are elected to the Knesset by the people on their behalf, and thus each population receives adequate representation in the legislature that is appropriate to their size in the nation. Democracy at its best. Just try to imagine that one day a man would rise up and rule the people against his will, enacting new laws and repealing existing laws.
It can be assumed that this will not happen.
The masses of the people will march in the squares, and a civil uprising will overthrow the dictator in power. After all, this is a democratic country. An 'elected official' should be an elected official, not someone on his own behalf, no matter how smart or rich he may be.
But it turns out, more than once, that we were wrong, and in a big way. The State of Israel is indeed managed and functions under a democratic diplomatic platform, there is a prime minister and a House of Representatives. But from here to the actual determination of laws by elected representatives, there is still a long way to go. "Everything is fair," Justice Aharon Barak once said, thereby tearing to pieces the little bit of democracy and appropriate representation that existed in the government.
''Everything is fair' is a phrase that dwarfs the State of Israel even in relation to its Arab neighbors. From now on, it should be said: There are laws that were established by majority opinion and are anchored as religion, but above them there is a judge in Jerusalem with two or more degrees who can easily turn the tables. Is this democracy? This is dictatorship.
Who are you to repeal a parliamentary law?
This week, for the thirteenth time, the High Court of Justice, composed of seven judges, overturned a law that was duly enacted by the Israeli Knesset. I will not go into the essence of the law here, nor the great wickedness that underlies its repeal. The Income Security for the Abrahim Law may sound discriminatory to the ears of the wicked, but a grant of a thousand shekels to a family in which both spouses do not work and have three or more children, subject to dozens of other conditions, is a pure welfare law, and absolutely not a discriminatory law.
''Unemployment benefits' for that matter, which are also given in a similar situation to anyone in any population, without any restrictive conditions, are in an amount several times higher. – The anger and wrath, then, are not about this specific individual, but about the path and the system. It is impossible and unheard of for a judge, no matter how great, rich or wise, to intervene and make some decision contrary to the Israeli Knesset, where the law was enacted based on adequate representation of elected representatives from segments of the population. This is ridiculous.
Try to imagine that one fine day a person with degrees decides that the speed limit on Israeli roads as enacted by the House of Representatives is illegal, and that his opinion will determine the maximum speed that will be allowed from now on. Does it make sense? Absolutely not. Just as no respectable panel of judges will be able to make a decision that the capital of Israel is not Jerusalem but Beit Shean. More than that, it is outrageous, it is ridiculous. The judges, their dignity is in their place. And they are probably placed somewhere above a policeman and above a traffic light in the hierarchy pyramid. But from here to the annulment of democratic decisions enacted by the majority, the majority of the public, there is still a long way to go. By the way, that is what they call a dictatorship. It is true that there is no single dictator, but the coercive element is the same.
All is fair: what are elections for?
Let's take Justice Barak's ruling one step further. If 'All Judges' has the power to nullify laws, why then are the judges the ones who don't determine the elected officials in the first place? Why scratch your right ear with your left toe? What a waste of effort and budgets. Let them, the judges, one day every four years, decide who the prime minister is, who the president is, and who the members of Knesset are. If they agree, then so are the ministers. Isn't it a waste of a Sabbath that causes losses of hundreds of millions to the economy?? Our choice as citizens is not really relevant. The appointed minister determines and the honorable Judge Salim Gibran annuls. Isn't it a waste of the long track?
If there is no limit to judicial capacity, it is not impossible that one bright day we will wake up to a judicial decision that the Western Wall was illegally occupied and must be returned to the Jordanians within sixteen days. Continue with your imagination, but please remember where you first read this.
Members of Knesset who sit in the House of Representatives and who (still) have the power to enact new laws: Your time has come. You must immediately submit a bill prohibiting the High Court of Justice from intervening and deciding laws that have been enshrined in the Israeli Knesset. Until the next loophole is discovered in the form of another statement by a Supreme Court justice, this will be the best way to deal with this disease in which the right hand fights the left hand.
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