A legal filter is vital
The extreme right wing of the Likud, Habayit Hayehudi and Yisrael Beytenu is infuriated by every public decision by the High Court of Justice that is not to its liking. Sometimes the outrage is fake and populist, intended to improve the party standing of the politician denigrating the decision.
On Thursday, the contest to slander the High Court started up again in response to its decision to delay the demolition of the homes of certain terrorists who are responsible for the killings of several Israelis. But even on the extreme Right there are those who might be expected to address the issue of attacks on the High Court rationally, looking at these three points:
1. The rampant verbiage that approaches incitement against the High Court is damaging its stature and the rule of law in Israel overall, but has a certain value in the enlightened world, where the explosions against the court bolster its standing as a beacon of legality and democracy. In this area, Israel has a clear advantage over its neighbors (which is why the extreme Left has joined the enemies of the High Court on the Right and is attacking the court to tarnish the country's democratic image).
2. The investigation must disregard the issue of whether the demolition of terrorists' homes is an effective tactic or not. It likely will not be addressed in the upcoming discussion by the High Court, either.
3. Justice Uzi Fogelman granted the state prosecutor a month to respond to a petition by the terrorists' families, but if the state is in a hurry there is nothing to keep it from responding immediately -- the lawyers are well-versed in the evidence -- thus greatly reducing the length of the debate.
Based on all this, the erudite on the extreme Right can explain to people like me whether they really want to live in a country where the government can demolish the home of a criminal terrorist piece of scum without the process undergoing any legal screening or filter. I'll go even further and ask this: Yigal Amir, who 20 years ago murdered then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, was caught in the act and immediately confessed. Did anyone want to see him in prison without having his day in court? Would we have become like Sodom and Gomorrah-
There is stronger proof than that: The Israeli Right (and the Palestinians on the other side) opposed the construction of Israel's security barrier. The matter was taken to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, but along the way was debated in the High Court. Former Chief Justice Prof. Aharon Barak and a team of High Court judges wrote and signed a stunning ruling, which caused the pressure on Israel to fizzle. But no one can count how many times the extreme Right condemned the court's involvement in that matter.
Someone has to bring the screaming Right back to the prophet's wisdom that "Zion will be delivered by justice" (Isaiah 1:27).
טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו