The left has been screaming that the new Israeli government's judicial reform proposals are "extreme" and "the end of democracy."  However, honest examination reveals that the Israeli Supreme Court has extraordinary, autocratic, unchecked power; and that reform is desperately needed, and will be good for democracy, the rule of law, and Israel's economy.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Democracy is rule "of the people, by the people, for the people."  Israeli and US legislatures and executive are democratically elected and answerable to the public.

But US and Israeli judicial systems are vastly different, starting with judicial selection.  The US public selects judges through its democratically-elected representatives:  The president nominates new justices; the Senate decides whether to confirm them; and Congress has the power to impeach Justices.

By contrast, in Israel, the Supreme Court self-selects and self-ousts its own justices.  The court has the controlling vote and veto on a 9-person "judicial selection committee" that selects new judges.  The Knesset has no power to impeach justices.  Justices can only be removed by the same "judicial selection committee" controlled by the Israeli Supreme Court, or by a disciplinary court appointed by the Israeli Supreme Court.

The Israeli Supreme Court's "self-selection" and continuing control over the court's composition has enabled the court to seize and maintain enormous, unchecked power.

Thus, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Minister Bezalel Smotrich suggested adopting a democratic US-style judicial selection process.  ZOA previously made the same sensible suggestion.  Promoting democratic judicial selection is surely not an "extreme" position.

Notably, a weaker (even more non-extreme) judicial selection reform is currently under consideration – replacing two Israel Bar Association representatives (i.e., two lawyers beholden to the court) on the judicial selection committee with two appointees of the justice minister.  This would still leave the Justices with enough votes to veto selections.

Customarily, democracies also place checks and balances and limits on the power of each branch of government.

Thus, the US Supreme Court must uphold the US Constitution; can only hear limited types of cases and actual, justiciable controversies between parties who have legal "standing" (an actual, redressable injury related to an alleged wrong); does not determine non-justiciable political policy questions (the "political question doctrine"); does not re-write laws; and requires a six-Justice quorum to hear typical cases (approximately 80 cases per year).

By contrast, Israel's Supreme Court has usurped and arrogated to itself the power to flout, invalidate, and re-write laws and policies enacted by the people's elected Knesset and government representatives simply because Justices subjectively viewed those democratically-enacted laws and policies as "unreasonable" or "inappropriate."

Moreover, the Israeli Supreme Court hears petitions from parties without "standing" and cases that are non-justiciable in western democracies.  The court even determines political and military policies.  As a result, Soros-funded anti-Israel NGOs bring a continuing flood of "lawfare" (legal warfare) cases to harass the Israeli government and the IDF.  This could not happen in the US or any other normal western judicial system.

Further, panels of only 3 Justices decide most of the Israeli Supreme Court's 10,000 cases per year.  Thus, just 2 Israeli self-appointed Justices (the majority of a 3-judge panel) can nullify Israel's elected legislature and government, based on those Justice's personal preferences.

The many horrendous Israeli Supreme Court decisions include:

• The court permitted interim Prime Minister Lapid to surrender over 300 miles of Israeli Maritime Territory and gas fields to Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon without the legally required Knesset vote and national referendum.  The court's violation of Israel's referendum law will enrich Hezbollah with billions of dollars and damage Israeli security and the Israeli economy.

This case demonstrated that the current system is disastrous for the economy; and that judicial reform will help Israel's economy.  Economies thrive in systems based on the rule of law – not places where judges' personal preferences reign.

• The court blocked the IDF from razing buildings used by terrorists to attack Israelis passing on the nearby road, even though the army planned to pay compensation to the absentee building owners. The Supreme court's decision resulted in a horrific tragedy: the Arab terrorists then used the buildings to slaughter a young pregnant mother, Tali Hatuel, driving along the road, and her four young daughters, ages 2 to 11 years old.
• The court permitted terror-supporting political parties who openly seek to violently overthrow Israel to run for Knesset.  The Israeli Supreme Court overturned the Knesset Central Elections Commission's disqualification of these parties and violated Israel's Basic Law: Knesset, 7a, which bars parties and candidates that incite racism or support armed struggle by an enemy state or terrorist organization against Israel.
• The court permitted the entry into Israel of an anti-Israel BDS activist who headed a BDS-organization Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter. This violated Israel's 2017 law barring entry of BDS activists. Then-Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan said: "the Supreme Court granted a great victory to BDS . . . [T]he Supreme Court's decision . . . has undermined the ability of the State of Israel to fight the boycott activists who harm us all."
• The Israeli Supreme Court froze the District Court's and Magistrate Court's orders to evict Arab squatters living on Jewish-charity-owned properties in Shimon HaTzaddik.   The Supreme Court also ruled that the Arab squatters could continue living there until completion of land settlement procedures, a process that could take many years or never be carried out.  This baseless ruling overturned 50 years of litigation in which the Jewish charities repeatedly proved their ownership of their properties.

A current reform proposal would permit the Israeli Supreme Court to only block or invalidate government actions that violate actual laws.  The Court would no longer be able to invalidate government actions simply because the Justices don't like the action or think that it is "unreasonable."   This reasonable reform is much needed to curb the Court's undemocratic excesses.

Another proposal (which is unlikely to be adopted) is to allow 61 Knesset members to override Supreme Court decisions.  When Court decisions are merely based on self-selected judges' personal preferences, and when Court decisions are not based on a constitution or laws, it furthers democracy and the rule of law to give democratically-elected representatives some override power.  Constitutional republics also have legislative overrides.  In the US, Congress can override Supreme Court decisions by passing Constitutional amendments (plus obtaining state ratification); and can even override certain decisions simply by passing new laws.

It's thus time to stop bandying about "extremist" labels, and for reasoned consideration of reforms to curb the Israeli judiciary's unchecked undemocratic power.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Israel's judicial reforms: good for democracy – and the rule of law appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

A recent Fox News investigation found that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)'s educational and "anti-bias" programs, which influence millions of American children, educators and officials, promote far-left and critical race theory (CRT) concepts including "white privilege" and "systemic racism," and promote groups such as the Women's March and BLM – despite those organizations or their leaders' virulent Jew-hating, Israel-hating and pro-Farrakhan positions.  ADL programs call denying white privilege a "biased attitude"; encourage white children to view themselves as "oppressors"; and include an article indicating that white women are "justly seen as oppressive" and "enjoy unearned skin privilege," etc.

This problem a longstanding.  Six years ago, ZOA documented that multiple ADL educational lesson plans: encouraged students to join BLM protests in Ferguson (the same protests that demanded ending Israel's existence, calling Israel an apartheid genocidal state); promoted BLM while ignoring the BLM/M4BL organizations' antisemitism and antisemitic platform; and repeated numerous BLM false claims.

Distinguished JNS Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Tobin pointed out that ADL's announcement, following the Fox investigation, that ADL will review its educational content "misaligned" with ADL's values was "blatantly dishonest" – because ADL's woke leftist educational materials are aligned with ADL's woke far-left values, promoted under ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.  Tobin noted that ADL publicly endorsed BLM and BLM's racist "equity" [inequality] agenda; defended antisemitic Congresswomen Tlaib and Omar; downplays left-wing antisemitism; hired an outreach director who calls Jews racists; and works with tech firms to promote Internet censorship.

JNS/Tobin concluded: "If the ADL is to retain even a sliver of credibility, it will require more than a pro forma "review" about "misaligned" lesson plans.  It's going to need a complete overhaul and a purge of the woke leftism and one-sidedness that now permeates almost everything it says and does.  The only way to begin that effort is to fire Jonathan Greenblatt. Anything less than that will be a further betrayal of the organization's responsibilities to speak up for its founding principles and mission."  ("After the ADL Gets Caught Spreading Woke Ideology, Greenblatt Must Go," Sept. 7, 2022.)  ZOA concurs.

We also cannot forget that, after ZOA critiqued ADL's policies, Jonathan Greenblatt physically assaulted ZOA attorney Liz Berney in 2016.  A few weeks later, at a Conference of Presidents meeting, after ZOA president Morton Klein politely reminded Greenblatt that he owed Ms. Berney an apology, Greenblatt shook his clenched fist within an inch of Mr. Klein's face while screaming, "If you want Shalom Bayit [peace] in the Conference of Presidents, you must throw Klein and ZOA out of the Conference."  Greenblatt threatened Mr. Klein so uncontrollably that an ADL official dragged Greenblatt out of the room.  Greenblatt has still not apologized. Those outrageous incidents alone should have resulted in ADL terminating Greenblatt.

ZOA's (and others') critiques of ADL included:

• ADL sought to defund and remove the tax exemptions from three pro-Israel organizations (including prominent Christian Zionist group PTNJ).
• ADL hired an outreach director who justified anti-Israel terrorism; said Jews need to "repent for Gaza's dead"; and, after Black extremists murdered innocent Jews in Jersey City, blamed Black antisemitism on "Jewish landlords, and pawnbrokers and small merchants" and on "systemic racism" against Blacks.
• ADL condemned the Pompeo/US State Department's appropriate plans to label as antisemitic three organizations that libel Israel – Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Oxfam.
• ADL's Black History Month celebration featured an Israel-hating BDS activist.
• ADL's 2002-2018 terror attacks report misleadingly undercounted Islamist migrants' terror attacks.  ADL omitted Islamist terrorist murders of Jews at the Los Angeles El Al counter and Seattle Jewish Federation [ADL claimed these murders were not Islamist terrorism]; omitted Islamist terror allegedly unconnected to specific terrorist organizations; and limited the period to omit 9/11.  ADL then misleadingly claimed that plots "motivated by right-wing extremism" exceeded plots motivated by Islamist extremism.
• After Ilhan Omar tweeted, "Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.", and gave an insulting "non-apology," claiming she reacted to Israeli "oppression," Greenblatt praised Ilhan Omar, saying: "Hats off to Rep Omar for her honest apology & commitment to a more just world."
• ADL's spokesperson stated in 2021: "Anti-Israel activism in and of itself is not antisemitism," and "A BDS resolution alone would not count as antisemitism," but "might" – [might ?!] – count as antisemitism if Jewish students were excluded from debating the resolution.
• During his 2016 J Street speech, Jonathan Greenblatt called BLM, refugee and LGBT rights "the struggles of our time."  Greenblatt ignored BLM's rampant anti-Israel libels and BDS promotion.  Jews are being slaughtered, attacked, boycotted, and defamed.  This, the "real struggle of our time" for ADL should be that Jewish lives matter.

 Greenblatt's J Street speech falsely accused fellow Jews of: "exhibit[ing] Islamophobia"; denying "marginalized Palestinians" rights; and failing to recognize the legitimacy of the "Palestinian narrative" [the false narrative denying Jewish history and Israel's right to exist]; and wrongly blamed both sides for the PA's refusal to make peace.

• ADL/Greenblatt falsely condemns as "antisemitic" people who criticize George Soros' extreme activities, including sending millions of dollars to anti-Israel NGOs; and Soros' admission on 60 Minutes that he feels no guilt about helping his Nazi godfather confiscate Jewish property.  Notably, Greenblatt previously worked for the Soros-funded Aspen Institute.
• ADL's 2021 "Never is Now" conference featured hostile-to-Israel speakers, who had falsely accused Israel of perpetrating "ethnic cleansing" and "daily" human rights violations; called for Biden to use "sticks" against Israeli "settlements"; and downplayed the PFLP terrorist organization's brutal meat-cleaver massacre of five innocent Jewish worshipers and a security guard in a Jerusalem synagogue, as a "lone wolf attack by two cousins."  Journalist Daniel Greenfield wrote: "ADL Summit on Jew-Hatred Features Who's Who of Antisemites."
• In May 2021, while Hamas launched 4,369 rockets at Israel and Israeli-Arabs attacked their Jewish neighbors, burnt and looted Jewish homes, synagogues and cars, ADL's May 10 statement wrongly cast blame on Israelis, by accusing "extremists, including far-right Jewish nationalists" of "exacerbating tensions."
• ADL defended Tides' former Chairman and the Soros-funded Tides Foundation – which openly supports and funds leading antisemitic, anti-Israel and BDS groups, including: CAIR; AROC; JVP; Code Pink; Bend the Arc; Adalah Justice Project; Solidaire Network; IfNotNow; J Street and more.
• ADL opposed anti-BDS laws, even though anti-BDS laws are highly effective for combatting BDS.  ADL actively lobbied against a federal anti-BDS law and state anti-BDS laws in Maryland, South Carolina, Illinois and New York.  ZOA's legal experts and others demonstrated that anti-BDS laws are legal, and condemned ADL's opposition.   ADL's current BDS position statements say nothing about anti-BDS laws.
• ADL opposed Israel's anti-BDS law banning BDS activists from entering Israel, which was upheld by Israel's courts.  Furthermore, in 2018, ADL said that Israel should allow antisemitic boycott activist, SJP-BDS hate group president and terrorism supporter Lara Alqasem to enter Israel.
• In a letter to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, ADL/Greenblatt falsely accused pro-Israel Mike Pompeo (and associated pro-Israel groups) of Islamophobia, to try to block Pompeo's Secretary of State confirmation.  ZOA wrote to the Senate committee, countering ADL's false "Islamophobia" claims.  JNS' Tobin also explained that ADL's indictment of Pompeo as an anti-Muslim bigot was false, hypocritical, politically-motivated and a disgrace; and noted that ADL echoed the same attack on Pompeo made by Hamas-affiliated CAIR  (Council on American Islamic Relations).  Commentary also condemned ADL's partisan smear against Pompeo.
• In September 2020, ADL co-signed a full-page New York Times advertisement promoting the antisemitic Israel-bashing BLM.  ADL signed just four months after BLM burned, defaced and looted Los Angeles Jewish synagogues, schools and businesses; and despite BLM/M4BL falsely accusing Israel of genocide, ethnic cleansing, training US police to murder Blacks, etc.
• ADL repeatedly co-signed joint letters with extreme Israel-hating groups, including 29 joint letters (opposing events sponsored by a pro-Israel group) co-signed with: MPAC [which called Israelis "the worst terrorists in the world," defends Hezbollah, and said Israel should not exist and should be suspected of perpetrating 9/11]; four JVP groups; CAIR; the Islamic Society of North America (named unindicted conspirators involved in funneling money to Hamas); Iranian regime arm NIAC; Bend the Arc; and BDS promoters AFSC and PC(USA).
• Greenblatt attacked Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for calling out the Palestinian Authority's ethnic cleansing of Jews.  Jonathan Tobin explained ("The ADL Takes Sides Against Israel") that Greenblatt's attack ignored history and the Palestinian Authority's and Hamas' statements about ridding the country of Jews, and anti-Jewish incitement "in Palestinian media, schools and popular culture."
• ADL focuses on white supremacy, often while ignoring and downplaying Islamist and Black supremacist terrorism.  ADL's 2019 "Antisemitism Summit" announcement stated it would focus on "extremism, white supremacy, cyber hate, campus activism and free speech" – but didn't mention Islamic antisemitism, despite Imams in certain US mosques calling for killing Jews; Islamist attacks targeting Jews including outside a US synagogue; Muslim plots to blow up American synagogues; etc.
• Greenblatt falsely praised antisemitic Congressman Keith Ellison as an "important ally in the fight against antisemitism" and "on record in support of Israel" when Ellison ran for DNC Chair – despite Ellison's long record of: Israel-bashing; antisemitism; attempting to insert anti-Israel planks and remove pro-Israel planks from the Democratic platform; blaming [non-existent] Israeli "occupation" for inadequate electricity in Gaza [actually due to Hamas diverting electricity to Hamas terror tunnels and operations]; voting against Iron Dome funding; speaking at and receiving contributions and travel from Muslim Brotherhood affiliates; and decade as spokesperson for Farrakhan's Nation of Islam.

Thus, ADL needs a complete overhaul, starting with Greenblatt's removal. 

Morton A. Klein is the National President of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA).  Liz Berney, Esq. is ZOA's Director of Research and Special Projects.  An even more detailed version of this article is on ZOA's website.

The post Fox News joins ZOA in exposing ADL and joins JNS editor Tobin in urging firing ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.