Britain and other Commonwealth countries have a position called the Black Rod. The Black Rod is appointed by the Queen, who sends him to summon the Commons when she takes her seat at the State Opening of Parliament. As the Black Rod approaches the House of Commons, the doors are slammed shut against him to symbolize the Commons' independence and sovereignty. He must then knock on the door three times with his black rod and when he is admitted he bows to the Speaker of the House and says: "Mr. Speaker, the Queen commands this honorable House to attend Her Majesty immediately in the House of Peers." The speaker follows Black Rod but the other members of the House of Commons stagger behind, making it clear that the Commons have an independent right to stand their ground.
Ceremonies and symbols shouldn't be taken lightly. The Knesset statutes and Basic Law, which states that the Knesset should make its own regulations, should not be taken lightly.
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Recent events clearly show that a lot of thought went into formulating the Knesset statutes. Setting the timing of a vote is not merely a technical matter. A majority is never formed until the actual vote, therefore, the claim made by the justices of the High Court of Justice that they are protecting the majority decision became a joke at the expense of the court, even before the ink on the verdict dried up. Where is that "democratic majority" that was in favor of Meir Cohen's election as Knesset Speaker?
This is the reason the Basic Law and Knesset statutes appointed a politician to make this decision, to weigh the political considerations, of which the court has no understanding and should have no involvement. The arrogant interference of the High Court of Justice in the practices and norms of Israel's parliament shame the foremost judicial institution in the country.
The "High Court party" started believing its own lies. It was not protecting a majority decision; it was really helping a faction within a political party to carry out a power grab going against the democratic rules of the game.
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein warned the High Court justices that they do not know what direction they are leading, however, the justices very arrogantly refused to listen and issued a verdict they had prepared in advance.
Everything was already prepared. The liquidator of the Knesset, appointed by the High Court to remove the commoners' parliament from its power was Labor Leader Amir Peretz. Instead of carrying the Black Rod, he carried a verdict bearing the black flag of illegitimacy. The commoners of the anti-Bibi bloc stood up and applauded the loss of the Knesset's independence instead of slamming the door in its face.
At that moment, Netanyahu and Gantz started weaving plans for a unity government. The so-called democratic majority, which the High Court of Justice set out to defend turned out to be nonexistent.
It turned out, not unsurprisingly, that Edelstein had been right all along.
The arrogant interference of the High Court has cast shame on the institution. If they had a fraction of the integrity and bravery of the former prisoner of Zion, Yuli Edelstein, they would have handed in their resignation today.
