Categories: Op-Eds

There's No REAL Debating with Reform Opponents

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July 12, 2023, 8 AM ET

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You are a nice person, but you don't really understand the judicial reform, Lt. Col. (res.) Oren Shvil told Likud lawmaker Tsega Melaku during a recent panel on the controversial legislation. I too received a similar response when I tried to explain to Svhil that the words "dictatorship" and "regime" do not describe the current situation in Israel. Opponents of the judicial reform cannot fathom the fact that the other side has brains and are capable of thinking for themselves. In Shvil's mind, there is no way I studied the material and came to an informed decision. Shvil, who came to fight the "dictatorship," is a member of the Ahim Laneshek (Brothers in Arms) group that silenced the representatives of the camp that supports the judicial reform. Make no mistake: there is no fight for democracy here, but only the voicing of the one and only correct opinion. Ahim Laneshek carries all of Israel on its shoulders, Maj. Gen. (res.) Guy Zur declared moments after the same studio broadcasted footage of the funeral of Staff Sgt. Shilo Yossef Amir, who was killed in the Kedumim terror attack. This after a few heartbreaking weeks in which the Religious Zionist community has lost its best sons in Beit El, Eli, and the Meirav kibbutz. Among the students of hesder yeshivas, which combine Torah studies with military service, the enlistment rate for combat service stands around 80%.

The conduct of the leaders of the anti-reform protests and its representatives in the Knesset proves that as far as they are concerned, there is only one truth. The talks hosted by President Isaac Herzog to try to reach a compromise on the legislation were a waste of time.

But let's remember that Gideon Sa'ar – now a member of the Opposition – pledged in 2016 to limit the reasonableness clause. In 2019, long before Yariv Levin became justice minister and began to push for the reform, Supreme Court Justice Noam Sohlberg said that the court was using the reasonableness clause disproportionately, saying the judiciary was taking over the role of policy maker, something it was not authorized to do.

When talks were being held at the President's Residence to limit the reasonableness clause only to civil servants within the framework of administrative law – rather than elected officials – former President of the Supreme Court Aharon Barak said the move would be appropriate.

Supporters of the bill rely on dozens of cases where the Supreme Court tied the hands of the legislators who sought to fight terrorists. But how protest leaders sit in air-conditioned studios and announce that they are going to break the law without repercussions, illustrates their self-importance and belief that they are above the law. They are the only ones who get to decide what is reasonable.

Superintendent Avshalom Peled said in the Knesset that anti-reform protesters were being handled gently, compared to many other previous protests in Israeli history.

For years, the police have used stun guns in demonstrations by the ultra-Orthodox, many times causing serious damage. But only this time around did medical professionals think to petition against their use on protesters.

Because when it comes to demonstrations, some sectors can be treated with violence, but certainly not anti-reform protesters.

{Written by Merav Sever and reposted from Israel Hayom}