The Israeli "police action" against Hamas will soon, hopefully, draw to a conclusion, with a total victory for the former. Then will start the blame game: Who is responsible for the despicable acts of October 7, 2023, which started this entire ball rolling?
Of course, Hamas will live forever in terms of infamy. Purposefully attacking innocent civilians is high up on the list of war crimes. But there is plenty of guilt, unfortunately, albeit of a very different nature, to pass around on the Israeli side.
Yes, the much-vaunted high-tech Israel defense will come in for its share of culpability. Everyone knows this. Hopefully, the house will be cleaned, and Never Again will anything of this sort be allowed to occur, ever again.
However, in this present essay, let us focus on a phenomenon of which many people will be less aware in this context: the massive street protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attempt to reform the Supreme Court of Israel. These took place before that day of infamy, October 7, 2023. The best time to strike the enemy is when he is quarreling amongst himself, and these gigantic marches certainly qualified in this regard.
According to Sun Tzu, in his book "The Art of War" concerning the enemy: "If his forces are united, separate them." Well, Hamas did not have to lift a finger to "separate" Israeli forces. The population of that country was already quite "separated" thank you very much.
What was going on then? What was going on then was the fact that the Supreme Court of Israel is self-perpetuating, and Netanyahu and others were frustrated with their continual decisions on the basis of what they regarded as "reasonable." Even more seriously, whenever any member of this august group resigns or passes away, his replacement is chosen by the remaining judges. Thus, this body tends to perpetuate itself, at least in terms of ideology, since those who remain on the bench typically choose a new member on the basis of a similar legal philosophy to themselves.
In the US in sharp contrast matters are entirely different. There, when a spot comes open, it is not the remaining members who choose his replacement. No, it is the president of the US, with the advice and consent of the Senate, who decide the identity of the new member. Thus, in the land of the free and the home of the brave, the tenor of its Supreme Court changes, albeit slowly, over the years. At present, there is a six to three majority in favor of conservative judges. But, it was not too long ago that the obverse held true, and the liberals were in the ascendency. In the only full democracy in the Middle East, the Israeli Supreme Court keeps chugging along, with virtually no change in ideology, ever.
Massive numbers of leftist Israelis bitterly opposed the Prime Minister of Israel's attempt to alter the situation and render their system more congruent with that which takes place in America. For this he was widely condemned, in Israel, as shown by the gigantic protests, and even in the US, as being "undemocratic," forsooth. For example, here is National Public Radio in the US: "Israel is in a pivotal moment of crisis, triggered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plan to weaken the independence of the country's judicial system and make its judges more subject to political control." In the view expressed on Vox: "There's a reason Netanyahu's overhaul has spawned the largest protest in Israeli history: The attack on the court is seen, by millions of Israelis, as an attack on Israeli democracy itself." So the US Supreme court is at odds with "democracy itself?"
What does any of this have to do with laying the blame for the atrocities of October 7, 2023? It is simple. When your enemy is fighting amongst himself, that is a better time, a far better time, to strike against him than when he is united. Who is the enemy of Israel? Hamas can be called upon to play that role without any disagreement from anyone. Look at it from their point of view. Tens of thousands of Israelis, no, hundreds of thousands of them, are clogging the streets with blood in their eye, protesting against Netanyahu. And as is his wont, he was standing firm, bless him. What better time to strike at the "Zionist entity" than right there and then?
If the protestors really supported democracy, they would not have risked Israeli safety in this manner. They would have realized that Likud was elected through a fully democratic process. No harvesting votes there. No voting for a month or more. No casting ballots without any proof of citizenship whatsoever. No cemetery poll, as occurs in another country whose name I will not mention lest I be accused of doing something illegal. It was a fair election in Israel. If the socialists of that country do not like the results, think that the US-style Supreme Court secession system is "undemocratic," let them work harder in the next election and not put the country they live in at great risk of invasion. Let them not repeat their misbehavior in this regard when the present war winds down.
Note to left-wingers in Israel: You weaken the country with your mass protests. I understand that your Supreme Court is now woke and that you desperately want it to keep it that way. Call Netanyahu a fascist all you want for being "undemocratic" and desiring to change this institution to more closely resemble that of the US. But DO NOT reinstitute those mass protests. That weakens the country at least in the eyes of its many enemies, and renders Israel more vulnerable to attack. Instead, rely on the democratic process you revere in words but not in deeds, and vote this heroic figure out of office at your next opportunity.
