By Ted Belman
Not only has Netanyahu excluded Bayit Yehudi from affecting construction policy in J&S by limiting the role of the Deputy FM in such policy, he is also determined to prevent Ayelet Shaked from changing the rules regarding the HIgh Court.
Dan Margalit writing in ISRAEL HAYOM, the mouth piece for Netanyahu, under the title, Protect the independence of the courts, wrote that:
However, should Shaked seek to make an actual change and assign the selection of judges to a larger number of politicians than currently accepted, or prohibit the High Court from overturning (as is customary) irrational laws, the bitter war once waged between former Supreme Court presidents Aharon Barak and Dorit Beinisch, and Shaked’s mentor Daniel Friedmann, will be reignited.
and warns:
Should Shaked try to diverge from this system and prevent the appointment of the next in line — Justice Esther Hayut — in favor of some henchman, the harm to the High Court will resonate throughout the globe. It would be best for her if that war did not erupt.
As if that wasn’t enough, he ends by pointing out Netanyahu’s position:
In its latest issue, The Economist published a letter written by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman Mark Regev, in which he stressed that Netanyahu has been consistent and proud in his defense of Israel’s judiciary, and he would continue this way during his fourth term “to ensure that the Israeli Supreme Court will continue to be renowned worldwide for its professionalism and integrity.”
Margalit want’s the Court to continue to overturn “irrational law”. Who doesn’t, but it is not irrational laws that Shaked is concerned about. It is the role of the Knesset, as the voice of the people, to pass laws setting out policy. It is the role of the Courts to interpret those laws rather than to make laws on their own. The Court also has the role to decide if the laws of the Knesset violate any rights given to its citizens by Basic Laws, and if so to declare them “unconstitutional” and therefor invalid. It is always the right of the Knesset to pass new laws amending Basic Laws, in order to enable their laws to be “constitutional.
So her desired changes in no way alter the role of the Court. They merely seek to change the criteria pursuant to which the Court can rule laws “unconstitutional”.
Obviously there is no right wing gov in office.
It appears that the forces behind the scenes(CFR?) have pulled an old trick: Sending a trained puppet in right wing clothing, talking the talk and never walking the walk, as a lightning rod to attract the right wing voters and then have him neutralize and obstruct all right wing policies and advances during his term. if this is not what happened then its got to be the biggest coincidence ever as there has not been a right wing advance or achievement, wrt Jewish settlement, through all of BB’s reign.
At this rate, after the abandonment of jewish settlement in YS by the right wing hero of settlement(similar to sharon gaza withdrawal) lets hope the fight to build in the ALREADY ANNEXED FOR DECADES Jerusalem, does not end losing that also. You gotta hand it to him, a master politician, who has single handedly corralled and neutered all those to his right. All those who spoke of Jewish settlement in or annexation of YS have been sent to siberia; purged and removed from power. Likud gets the most seats and purges all traces of settlement in YS outside the major blocks. Did anyone notice when the right wing coalition moved to the center?
this is consistent with BB’s covert policy to de facto freeze jewish settlement in YS. He did the same in his last gov by having Yaalon and Livni in those positions. BB wants to appear to be the right wing settlement hero but the facts always say the opposite. There will only be building in the already annexed jerusalem and the major blocks that everyone knows will be kept. This is because of his “understandings” with the GCC to move slowly to a final solution which has already regularly been published in trial balloons.