30 Nissan 5778
15 April 2018
Cartoons of the day:
Cartoon 1:
Cartoonist: Yossi Shahar
Note that the judge on the right is in the Israel Supreme Court (Bagat). Rulings undermining Israel are like missiles being shot at the country. The missiles are labeled “judicial activism”, “reform at the Kotel”, “opening supermarkets on Shabbat”, “the Amona evacuation”, “infiltrators”, and “the evacuation of Netiv Ahavot.” All that can stop them are Patriot missiles from the Israel missile battery which reads “overcoming the decisions.”
You cannot imagine the brouhaha this cartoon has raised on the Israel “left” this morning. Avi Gabbay, the head of the Labor party, terms the cartoon as “incitement threatening the lives of Justices on the Court”, other lefties are decrying the suggestion that the Justices are like terrorists. And on, and on.
See Today’s Blog below for more discussion about this subject.
Cartoon 2:
The caption in red at the top of the cartoon reads: “Warning: Beware The Trojan Horse!!!!!” (Cartoonist unknown).
The New Israel Fund is like a Trojan Horse–presenting itself as a “gift” to Israeli democracy, but in reality sending out numerous so-called “humanitarian” organizations to undermine the country such as Assaf, Shatil, Binkon, Yesh Din, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Hamoked, Machsom Watch, Ir Amin, Breaking the Silence, and Rabbis for Human Rights.
The News on the Israeli Street
Palestinian terror in the last 24 hours . . .
**Another tunnel has been discovered running from Gaza into Israel. This makes the 8th such tunnel discovered since the end of the war in 2014.
**Israel Police, IDF soldiers, Shin Bet operatives, and Border Police captured 24 wanted Palestinian terrorists in Judea and Samaria. These were all identified as being involved in terrorist activities against Israeli civilians and soldiers.
Some of the main raids took place in Hevron, and the nearby settlements of Al-Omri and Yatta. Numerous weapons were captured at each location. Here is a sample of what was discovered in one home in Yatta:
An assault rifle, ammunition, and binoculars: standard issue for a terrorist.
Huge terror attack in the Sinai . . .
Around 4 am this morning, four terrorists belonging to Islamic State infiltrated the largest Egyptian military base in the Sinai.
Note the distance from the red pinpoint of the attack to the Israel border.
Wearing explosive belts, they blew themselves up killing at least 25 Egyptian soldiers including 8 officers.
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The attack is a grim reminder of the utter lawlessness of the Sinai just across our border.
More attacks in Syria? . . .
Reports are sketchy at this hour, but it appears that more bombing raids have been carried out on various Iranian targets in Syria early this morning.
The specific target seems to have been the Jebel Azan area in southern Aleppo.
TODAY’S BLOG:
The Battle Intensifies Between the Knesset and the Supreme Court
The basic question is simple.
Which institution should have the ultimate power in Israel: the Supreme Court, or the Knesset?
It is a question which has assumed ever greater importance in recent years as the Supreme Court has ruled law after law passed by the Knesset “unconstitutional” (in quotation marks because Israel has no constitution), and as its adjunct, the High Court of Justice, sticks its nose into every conceivable area of Israeli life.
In essence, the Knesset has been emasculated. Whatever law it passes is almost sure to be rendered invalid within weeks, if not days. Whatever proportion used to exist, exists no more.
All of which brings us to the current situation in which the conservative members of the Knesset are determined to reign in the Supreme/High Court. The method being proposed is a Basic Law that will permit the Knesset to override a decision by the Court.
In other words, if a Knesset Law is rejected by the Court, a majority of Knesset members would be able to override the Court decision and “re-enact” the Law.
Sounds simple enough, right?
Nothing in Israel is simple. Some legislators in the Coalition want to use the Canadian method of overriding, others the British method, and still others oppose any change whatsoever.
Today, Attorney General Mandelblit weighed in demanding that a simple majority should not be sufficient–he is demanding that a majority of 70 legislators be required. On the other hand, he thinks that it should take 6 judges out of 9 to invalidate a law instead of the current 5. More than this, Mandelblit is demanding that any “re-enacted” law only be valid for five years.
Can you believe all of these machinations? What gives Mandelblit any more right to demand stipulations than either you, dear reader, or your humble servant?
The Knesset needs to act, and it needs to act now if it is to have any say at all in the future of this country. Otherwise the running of the country will stay where it is now, in the hands of a liberal judicial elite.
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.