Democracy and Justice

“The Torah contains the admonition, ‘You shall not do evil [perversity] in the exercise of justice [legislation, courts, police, government, etc.] Justice is served only by acting justly.” – [Rabbi Berel Wein]

Obviously this wisdom escaped a beaming former Prime Minister and former IDF Chief of Staff Ehud Barak who can be viewed demonstrating in front of a sign declaring: Germany 1933, Israel 2023, Shame, Tel Aviv, February 25, 20323. From his mouth, he told protestors in Haifa that “the protest must increase and move to civil revolt, and non-violent civil disobedience.”[NY Jewish Press].  One has to wonder if his behavior can be classified as Jewish Self-hatred or that of a Non-Jewish Jew.

As a subset, this essay entails hatred and evil. As reported in the media, former Israeli PM Ehud Barak took AIPAC to task for not openly supporting the so-called anti-judicial [anti-government] protest meeting. Josh Hasten regarded Barak’s behavior, speaking [via Zoom] abroad against the government despicable and beyond the pale as it could potentially turn young, impressionable American Jews against the State of Israel.

Elsewhere Barak has been an outright disdainful commentator on PM Netanyahu. An absolute chutzpa since his own tenure was the shortest of all the Prime Ministers of Israel. What has he got to show for it, particularly when compared to Netanyahu?

For those protestors in Israel against reform, they can alleviate their ignorance by a study of Eli M Salzberger on “Laws relating to the Israeli Supreme Court.” In fact, a study of history shows how often there have been attempts to repair Israel’s dysfunctional democracy.

The Jewish Chronicle published Melanie Phillips, “Israel’s Protestors are the real threat to its democracy now” on Aug. 24, 2023. This journalist is unquestionably amongst the finest among her pears and the referenced Op-Ed may be her best. She says, “The Israeli protestors claim they are defending democracy and saving Israel from dictatorship. In fact, the opposite is the case.”

She draws attention to a video recently surfaced from 2020 in which Ehud Barak laid out, for a group of military reservists, what can be interpreted as” a plan for a coup d’état which turned out to be a template for these mass demonstrations.”

The Protestors’ real agenda is to bring down the Netanyahu government. A few of the points made by Melanie Phillips in support of her address:

[1] The protestors have unforgivably weaponiesed the economy and even – hitherto unthinkable – Israel’s security. They have encouraged investors to move their money out of Israel in order to produce financial chaos.

[2] As one Ha’aretz article boasted: “A military coup is underway in Israel – and it’s completely justified.”

[3] Then there is outright thuggery. The Koehler Policy Forum, a scholarly, conservative think-tank that helped formulate the reform program, had its offices vandalized and then barricaded with barbed wire and rubbish. Its senior thinkers have been demonized, threatened and abused.

[4] A video has also surfaced of the Madam Mao of the insurrection, physics professor Shikma Bressler- who has declared that the reform would turn Israel into a “theocratic dictatorship.”

Ashkenazi elites are able to maintain the uprising; seeking the power they exercise through the court to marginalize socially conservative and lower- class Mizrahi Jews. It’s being further incited by left-wing writers in both Israel and the Diaspora, “sobbing into their keyboards about the destruction of Jewish unity while they bully and denounce the Israeli “right” as people with whom they refuse even to identify; and while they implore Diaspora Jews to save Israel from its own “non-normative” government and “replace democratic and the rule of law with control by a judicial oligarchy comprising people in their own image.”

In all this, “they claim this represents democracy, human rights and quite obscenely for such traitors to the Jewish people, Jewish values.”

Jerusalem Post, August 18, 2023]: Down with the “Banana Republic” by Michael Starr. While anti-judicial reform protests continued, so too did the pro-overhaul camp’s campaign against judicial review of basic laws, at a rally outside the Tel-Aviv home of Supreme Court President Esther Hayut.

The protests were part of the ‘banana republic “protests organized by Im Tirzu. The NGO said that the protests would be held weekly, echoing the anti-reform protests held every Saturday night.

Im Tizru’s director Matan Peleg said that the current situation saw Israel with “an elitist regime run by judges, generals and capitalists instead of by the people. This is unacceptable, and we will not agree to live under the rule of the tyranny of the minority.

Across the waters, Israel’s ally America has its ongoing saga which features ex President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden.  Mollie Hemingway’s “Rigged: How the Media, Big Tech and the Democrats Seized Our Elections” is a book brilliantly exposing how the Left rigged nearly every aspect of Donald Trump’s candidacy, presidential transition, presidency, and reelection to ensure he’d stand little chance of winning on Election Day in 2020.

If one believed things went terribly wrong in wrong in the 2020 election, as did Mollie Hemmingway [Oct. 12, 2021], you’re not crazy, you’re not crazy, and you’re not alone, but most of all, you’re not wrong.

From Chapter One, “Over Before it began”, Reporters expressed surprise at Trump’s confidence, since they thought he had little to no shot at victory. At his Mar a Largo home month later, Trump said, “It hurts to lose than to win and have it taken away.” The day after Mueller testified, President Trump had a phone call with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, in which he discussed the Biden‘s family business  dealings in the notoriously  corrupt former Soviet Republic.

From Chapter Two, “Taking on the Establishment”, Five US Presidents since 1900 have lost their bid for a second term. It was the Fourth time President Trump would address a joint session of Congress and he last of his time in office.

A few members of Congress stood out for understanding the Russian collusion hoax for what it was. The group Clinton and the democrats had hired to run the Russia operation had invented a dossier of salacious gossip, unsubstantiated innuendo, and publically availability information with the help of Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer.

Miranda Devine’s incredibly detailed account of the contents of Hunter’s laptop serves as a corollary companion book, highlighting the Left’s effort to protect Joe Biden to regain the reins of power. [Matt A. Mayer -Dec. 5, 2022].

The Biden Campaign, Democrats and the Deep State worked tirelessly to stop Americans from learning –and not about Hunter’s despicable life of drugs, prostitutes, and familial drama as vividly detailed on the Laptop—-but about Joe’s covert role in his son’s and brothel’s business of selling access to or perceived access to Joe as Vice President, to foreign entities for millions.

Importantly, Devine show how Joe used his power as a US Senator to get Hunter jobs with companies and at pay levels Hunter didn’t deserve[i.e., Burisma wasn’t the first time someone paid Hunter for nothing.

No reasonable person reading chapters nine through fourteen can conclude anything other than there is significant direct and circumstantial evidence of Joe’s knowledge of and involvement in the Biden family swindle.

At the end of the day, Miranda Devine understands why Trump has a legitimate grievance that his first term was unfairly mired down by the Russia hoax and that the 2020 election was rigged. In her conclusion she says, “—the Bidens are not only no better than the Trumps, but they are actually worse.”

The Algemeiner published Joseph Puder’s, “The Phenomenon of Jewish Self-Hatred” on April 26, 2016. He commences with, “Throughout history, some Jews opted to find a way to ease their lives by abandoning their faith and their people. Albert Einstein is alleged to have said, ‘the reason we Jews survive is that the cowards leave us.’

Anti-Semitism can be described as Jewish hatred.  However, many self-hating Jews have not returned to the fold. Puder points to “the cases of Ian Pappe and Noam Chomsky, both of them academics. These two participate in the most viciously anti-Israel, anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic gatherings. What would Puder say about Soros or Bernie Sanders? Indeed, how would he classify the hatred and flowing of bromide by Jerry Nadler and Adam Schiff directed at Donald Trump during the first impeachment trial?

Huff Post published, “Israel’s Dysfunctional Political System” by Brent E Sasley on July 8, 2012. He says, “Hear are 4 major issues:

[a] Hyper Democracy: Because of a multitude of parties in competition, this dilutes policy as the senior coalition partner “sells” its preferences in return for small parties’ agreement to join its coalition, rather than the opposition’s.

[b] Voting system: proportional representation, with the country designed as a single district.

[c] Power of the religious parties: Shah’s party strengthened the centrifugal forces in the political system.

[d] Personalization of Politics: There are reports that the new coalition is working to change the political system.”

On February, 21, 2023, Arutz 7 posted Jack Engelhard’s, “Has the Israeli Left lost its mind?”He answers, “Leftist madness. Apparently, these protestors are Leftist first, Israelis second.” Did you really think that all Israel is in this together? Home at last. After 2,000 years. How thrilled. How grateful for this. Polotics be damned. I did not foresee the coming of a 13^th tribe Liberal/Leftists. Nor that they’d be frothing at the mouth just so.”

Some 60,000 protest outside the Knesset as the bill is being debated. In fact, there are Jews, Israelis who have found their own ‘catastrophe’ in the name of judicial reform. Their anger against any changes being made, or even ‘suggested’, is proof that the High Court is their Daddy.

Sensible jurists everywhere agree that in Israel, it’s the High Court that has run amok.

Time, they say, to curb the High Court that has run amok. Time, they say, to curb the High Court that has run amok. Time, they say, to curb the High Court from its excesses.”

As Maimonides points out to us hatred breeds zealotry and zealotry invites and justifies violence and discord. Hatred of others becomes the rallying point for justifying the policies and opinions of ideological and political parties, groups and opponents. We are seeing this in the protestors in both the US and Israel. This was never the case in Israel in all the years from its birth, despite it being a Left-wing government until 1977.

Any student of Israel’s dysfunctional democracy will find a constant appeal for reforms.