Three hundred Israeli academics have already signed a petition circulated by the group Professors for Political and Economic Resilience (a.k.a. Professors for a Strong Israel), supporting the government’s judicial reform.
Professors for a Strong Israel was established in 1988 and believes in the importance of adherence to Zionism and attachment to Jewish heritage in law and education. They also advocate a free market economy.
The petition reads:
We the undersigned, senior academics, see fit to express our opinion as follows:
1. a comprehensive reform of the justice system is essential due to the constitutional revolution that was led by Prof. Aharon Barak which upset the balance among the branches of government in Israel.
2. The disturbance of the balance among the branches of government and the increased power of the court were carried out using a variety of devices: judicial review of major legislation and especially extending it to basic laws; expansion of the right of standing; expansion of the justiciability doctrine; expansion of the reasonability argument; the use of objective purposeful interpretation; and the excessive empowerment of the government’s legal counselors. All of these have accumulated to create an excessive disturbance of said balance.
3. The legislative process in Israel leaves a great deal of room to debate, correction, and persuasion. The appropriate place for the debate on the reform’s details is in the Knesset, where substantive discussions should be held between the supporters and detractors of the reform, as is customary.
4. As much as possible, it would be good to maintain communication and seek broad agreements. But these must not impede the vital process of correcting the justice system which in recent years has overreached excessively the boundaries of the other branches.
You can see the list of signatories below, as well as at the petition’s dedicated website, where there are 303 names as of Friday morning, and where you may add your name to the signatories, if you are a doctor or professor.
