Israel’s Supreme Court Needs Reform
The title of “Israel’s Right-Wing Puts the Independent Judiciary in Crisis” (March 17) is both misleading and untrue, as are the contents. And the reason is clear: the Supreme Court of Israel is out of control. Out of control enough, in fact, to be a danger to Israeli democracy.
In a correctly functioning democracy, the legislative branch makes the laws, period. The judicial branch interprets and applies the laws that the legislative branch makes. The Israel Supreme Court has long abandoned this separation of powers in a naked power grab that would have made Stalin jealous. The Supreme Court of Israel has struck down laws issued by the only law-making body in Israel, the Knesset. They have ruled against religion, allowing nonreligious conversions to qualify someone for automatic citizenship. They have issued rulings favorable to gender ideology and LGBT. None of this is their business. It is essentially a coup d’etat in slow motion.
The recent push to fix the Israeli Supreme Court hasn’t come a moment too soon.
Avraham Sonenthal, Upper Park Heights
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