The Supreme Court won, the government lost, but the latter doesn’t admit it

What a clever move by Israel’s Supreme Court to rule now

In a 12-3 decision, an overwhelming majority of the justices voted that Basic Laws can be struck down by the High Court. And this particular one, a law the government wanted to disarm the Court, was voted down. It’s popularly called the reasonable law, but that is already a lie. It was a law saying the Court cannot annul a law, decision, or appointment by the State it deems unreasonable. So, the law was an anti-unreasonableness law.

The parties that lost could now choose between saying: “So, I was wrong – I respect the court,” or “I disagree, but the court has spoken,” and all in between. Instead, the losers twist the truth 180 degrees.

The exception confirming the rule is Distal-Atbaryan, Israel’s former public diplomacy minister, who just closed her ministry for budgetary reasons (wars cost money), and Sunday admitted to have been drunk on power when she began to fight the majority of the People, including her friends.

The Court was smart to rule now. We’re in a war. Because we need unity, no one can revive the strife between the government and the People.

Here’s an overview of what defeated politicians said and what’s the truth:

The Claim (I Paraphrase)		The Truth (Often the Reverse)
		.
The Court divides the country in wartime.		The government sowed discord. That encouraged the enemy to attack.
		.
The Court voided its favorite law of human dignity to fight the government. That neither passed by a special majority.		A Whataboutism. The speaker’s conclusion; not the Court’s idea at all. This ruling is to stop a change in the judicial status quo, a power grab.
		.
The people united for the war effort but this Court, from its ivory tower, is disconnected from the people.		The Court ruled in favor of 80% of the People, overruling the government. It helps the People most as it just showed (days ago) allowing same-sex couples to adopt kids while the State refused to amend the law for 6 years!
		.
This ruling is legally shaky, politically crazy, and on the background of the state of the country, outrageous, and too hastily as it’s so controversial.		The government tried quickly to bring down the Court’s power. There was no reason to be slow in rejecting it. A MK tried to suggest a bill to postpone a ruling, so there was no time to lose. Several justices are about to retire. Then it might lack a bold majority.
		.
Changes must be made step by step, in an evolutionary manner, not with public declarations, and debates.		The government could have booked some success by going slower and less extreme. As the Sages say: Grab a lot, and you end up empty-handed.
		.
The Court took all power, which three branches of government must share. This begins to erode the principle of separation of powers and damages the position of the Knesset and the belief of the public in the judicial system.		It was the government that tried to disempower the Court and take all power. The Public is not stupid. It knows that the Courts are here for us when the government and Knesset only do what’s good for their egos.
		.
The government is elected so that should have the last say since that is the will of the people and democracy.		No, democracy is that the majority only decides as far as it agrees with the principles of equality and justice and the rights or needs of minorities.
		.
This is an unparalleled scandal in any Western democracy.		The Dutch just gave the largest election win to Pieter Omtzigt who promised a court that can void laws.
		.
Clearly, the Supreme Court has no authority to cancel fundamental laws. A disgrace!		The Court just ruled differently. It should be illegal to criticize court rulings since that weakens the courts.
		.

This reminds me of a joke my mother used to tell. Lawyer cables client: Justice has prevailed. The client cables back: Appeal immediately.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1