Israel's Proposed Judicial Reform - Would It Really Be The End Of Democracy In Israel? Part I

Some of you may have been following the street protests in Israel over the Netanyahu government's proposed reforms to their judicial system.  People have been out in the streets in the tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands.  Before doing my research on this issue, I admittedly had a viewpoint.  First, the Israeli High Court has a reputation for being one of the most leftwing in the Western world.  Second, who is doing the objecting?  It is overwhelmingly the Left - in Israel, in the Biden Administration and in other Western countries, our mainstream media and Leftwing Jewish organizations in the USA.  Why?  Because the conservatives are in control of the government.  Sound familiar? 

Third, as I have said before, the Left is the same everywhere.  They use the same language.  When Donald Trump was able to appoint 3 justices to the Supreme Court, the Left went crazy.  Because of the "threat to democracy," the system needed to be changed according to many on the Left.  Term limits for the justices.  Increasing the size of the Court so that Biden could appoint a sufficient number of new justices to restore control of the Court to the Left.  The Left believes they should have the sole right to control the Courts.   

Some background.  Israel does not have a formal written constitution.  It has a series of "Basic Laws" that form the equivalent of their constitution.  These laws cover everything from the organization and powers of the government, to individual human rights.  

There are Basic Laws describing the function of the Knesset, Israel's parliament; as well as describing the role of the president.  (In the US, the president is both the head of the executive branch and the head of state.  In Israel, the prime minister is the head of the government and the president is the head of state.)  

The Basic Laws give the government the power to print currency, make payments and establish a comptroller.  The Israeli Defense Forces are deemed to be the sole legitimate military force for the country, and is under civilian control.  (Without getting into the details, during the British control of Mandatory Palestine, there were various Jewish militia groups fighting to protect the Jewish people of Palestine.  During the war for independence, P.M. Ben Gurion ordered an attack against a ship controlled by the Irgun, one of those militia groups.  Therefore, designating the IDF as the sole legitimate military force was of some significance.) 

The Basic Laws also declared Jerusalem to be the capital city of Israel, and gave all religions rights.  The Basic Laws also affirmed everyone's right to pursue the occupation of their choice.  Certain human rights were also enunciated, including the rights to travel, to speech, and to be free from unlawful searches.  

The judiciary was also established, including procedures for appointing judges.  

The most controversial Basic Law was a relatively recent one from 2018.  Of course, the protests came from the Left and their allies in the Western world.  This Basic Law declared Israel to be the nation state of the Jewish people.  (People who protested were apparently not offended by the 56 Muslim countries, at least 26 of which have Islam as their official religion.)  This 2018 Basic Law made Hebrew the official language of Israel.  However, Arabic has a special status, and is on all currency along with Hebrew.  (Who believes a future Palestinian state would put Hebrew on their currency?)  Finally, this Basic Law established the official national holidays and national symbols.