Glass Houses

Last week in Israel the Israeli Knesset, controlled by a coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, passed legislation that limits the Israeli Supreme Court’s powers in spite of massive public protests over the last several months (click on link for details).  The vote was 64-0 because the opposition boycotted the vote.  Most of the non-Orthodox Diaspora Jews (mostly living in the United States) are likely in agreement with the current headlines excoriating the legislation.  Remember, Israel does not have a constitution, just laws.  And until now, the Israel Supreme Court could strike down any law enacted by the government that it deemed  “unreasonable.” In a way, the change passed would be similar in impact to changing the US practice of “beyond a reasonable doubt” in criminal cases to “preponderance of the evidence.”  A sea-change.

Netanyahu has a slim majority in the Knesset (64 of 120 seats) made up of the traditional center-right Likud Party (now more right than center) and the far-right and religious parties. 

The key aim of this change is to limit the power of the Supreme Court and to keep the current Prime Minister from being convicted of corruption.

So, the newspapers, liberals, Democrats, reform Jews are all decrying the risks to democracy.  As they should be.

However, please note that what is happening in Israel is what is happening in the US (which would be accelerated by a Trump presidential victory) and in large part for the exact same reason – avoiding conviction on criminal charges.

In the US, this threat came about as the religious orthodoxy (evangelicals, Orthodox Jews, anti-abortionists, Christian Nationalists) joined forces with typical right-wingers promoting culture wars and barely veiled racism.  This coalition scared traditional Republican conservatives so badly (i.e., threatened to run against them) that any voices of reason have been stifled.  The state of today’s Republican party is a direct result of Nixon’s Southern strategy (use segregation and racism to destroy the Dems hold on the South), the Reagan Revolution (convince people the government is the problem and cut taxes, while hiding the reality that most government benefits are heaped upon the wealthy) and Trumpism (lie, lie, and lie again about everything but send dog-whistle signals to every Christian Nationalist, Evangelical, right wing bigot that Trump is on your side). The easiest way for Trump to avoid conviction and jail time is to become President and shut it all down.  To most of us non-MAGA types, all of the above contributes to our sense that our democracy is at some risk, and even more so if Trump is reelected.  And there we are.

In Israel it was different.  Ten years after Yitzak Rabin was assassinated (by an Israeli Jew) for trying have serious peace talks with the Palestinians, Yasser Arafat died (ending any faint hope for a peace negotiating partner), Israel turned Gaza over to the Palestinian Authority, who almost immediately lost an election to the terrorist organization Hamas.  Hamas then forcefully kicked the PA out of Gaza.   Once in control, Hamas promptly acquired rockets from neighboring Lebanese militant Islamist group, Hezbollah, and began launching rockets into civilian areas of Israel.

In a country involved in wars and terrorist attacks for the last 75 years, with no partner on the Palestinian side to negotiate with, and after Rabin, a series of governments only titularly committed to a two-state solution, and with a well-armed Hamas on one border and Hezbollah on another border, and with the only recognized religious leadership being Orthodox, Israeli voters  looked to the more aggressive nationalist Netanyahu for security and safety.  Add the increasing secularization of the non-Orthodox trying to cut back on Orthodox privilege.  Netanyahu won on his promise of security (which, by the way, he and his administrations have actually delivered for the most part) and the increasing power of the religious/right-wing.  The only way for Netanyahu to avoid legal jeopardy was to trim the wings of the Supreme Court.  All of which struck non-Orthodox Israelis as an attack on their Democracy.  And there they are.

Before we Americans bemoan the Netanyahu government’s attempt to weaken the Supreme Court, let’s remember that over recent years Republicans have manipulated our system to ensure a right-wing majority on our Supreme Court.

Both of our countries face the threat of diminishing democracy.  Both of our countries have recently been led by, and could be led again by, political leaders with non-democratic tendencies and actions.

People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.  The best thing we, as United States citizens, can do is lead the rest of the world in a return to democratic values.  And we do that, my friends, at the voting booth.