The 2017 Judea and Samaria Settlement Regulation Law, which was canceled on Tuesday, is part of a series of laws that the Right has enacted in the past few years. They have one purpose: to solve problems of politics, security, and defense through legal means. Problems that were generally created due to excessive intervention on the part of the High Court of Justice.
Laws like the Settlement Regulation Law, the Nation-State Law, a law mandating a referendum when the government wants to concede any Israeli territory, a law against releasing imprisoned terrorists with blood on their hands, are attempts by the Right to shape state policy. We don't like it when terrorists are freed? We'll limit the ability of future Knessets and cabinets to do so. We don't want to give away any part of the homeland? We'll pass a law requiring a special majority. Does the High Court view everything through the lens of progressive Basic Laws? We'll pass a basic law that will require it to take other things into account. This wave of right-wing activity has led us to a new stage of Zionism – legal Zionism, as if it were possible to solve political and diplomatic problems through legislation.
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The Settlement Regulation Law was designed for a similar purpose. The problem is that the issue it was passed to clear up is in itself a legal one: settlements were uprooted and homes demolished because of left-wing petitions to the High Court. The solution? A law that would regulate the unregulated Jewish settlements. Don't misunderstand – some of the arguments made by the authors of the law are absolutely correct, but the idea that legislation can change the results of the High Court meat grinder is naïve and absurd.
The High Court justices are familiar with the contradictory considerations of the people. They know everything they need to know about the property issues in Judea and Samaria, they know about the individual settlers who arrived on the disputed lands without knowing, and they can write entire dissertations about "good intentions" and governmental acts. They have chosen to rule otherwise not because they were unaware of some law or arguments. They ruled the way they did because that is just how they think things should be. Even if there was a basic law that advertised in neon letters "The High Court does not cancel national laws," it would carry less weight than an empty plastic bag floating in the ocean.
It's simple: For a long time now, the High Court hasn't interpreted laws or implemented them. Rather it has become a 100% political entity. It does not respect the Knesset, and treats government decisions like mere recommendations. The fact that the hearing for this law took place a month before the election results were in says it all.
In a situation like this, any right-wing legislation secures the opposite effect – it strengthens the High Court and funnels more authority to it. This is because the Right effectively makes it the last authority on national issues.
And here's a spoiler that will blow your minds: the High Court will soon be discussing the Nation-State Law, and won't be impressed by the authors' Zionist rhetoric. Legal Zionism will die an early death.
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