Supreme Court rebukes Netanyahu
As Israel relaxes into the unfamiliar joy of the simple pleasures of life, very serious issues that were left untended are surging in place of COVID.
Lockdown experiences in Israel were uneven, at best, as they seem to be in most places around the world. What saved this nation of nine million was a ferociously aggressive and successful vaccination program in which 90 per cent of the six-million Israelis over 16 and eligible for the shots were given them between mid-december and the end of March. The timing of the vaccine rollout was particularly fortuitous, coinciding, as it did, with a third wave of contagion that began gaining momentum in late November.
In spite of hundreds of thousands receiving their shots every day it took until well into February for “the numbers” to show positive signs of decline. And then, almost from one day to the next, the country went over a cliff, in a good way. This allowed society to begin reopening and larger family gatherings were permitted, just in time for Passover, Easter and Ramadan.
Early and new cases of the dreaded variant that is ravaging India have been identified here and are being monitored closely. We hope, but have no certainty yet, that the Pfizer vaccine will continue to protect the population from this newer strain of the virus.
The relief, for now, from COVID has the nation refocused on a threat of a different sort, but no less dangerous. After four elections in two years — the last of which was on March 23 — the political paralysis in Israel is mutating into what many fear is a direct threat to the integrity of key democratic institutions. As the party leader commanding the largest bloc of seats, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to negotiate a governing coalition. He has until Tuesday evening to pull off a minor miracle. For him, the situation is dire and very personal.
Controlling the government is the only tool he has to manage the continuation of his ongoing trial on multiple corruption charges. Should he or his allies be in control of the next coalition it is certain that among its first legislative acts will be passage of a law prohibiting the prosecution of a sitting prime minister and, very likely, cabinet minister.
In the meantime, the country has, for all intents and purposes, been without a properly functioning government for two years. Last spring, former IDF chief Benny Gantz agreed to support a Netanyahu-led coalition in a desperate and futile effort to preserve a modicum of stability. Not surprisingly, that ill-fated alliance went to smithereens in the fall, leading to round four at the polls.
Among the more critical ongoing issues since then is the fact that Israel has had no minister of justice, which is problematic. Very.
In a ham-handed attempt to plug that hole last Tuesday, Netanyahu overrode the objections of his coalition partners in the caretaker government and forced a cabinet vote to appoint a Likud MK — who would be sympathetic to his personal travails — as minister of justice. But, under the terms of the still-valid agreement of the previous coalition, Gantz controlled that appointment and he refused to rubber stamp Netanyahu’s pick. The Likud members of cabinet voted anyway, causing the attorney general to declare the vote and outcome illegal.
Pretty crazy stuff, even for Israel.
All of which led to an emergency hearing on Tuesday evening before the Israeli Supreme Court to decide the issue. Not surprisingly, the Court agreed with the attorney general, in what is a stinging rebuke of Netanyahu’s conduct. The court also ordered that a justice minister be appointed immediately, which has yet to happen.
The public is beyond fed up; fatigued from COVID and, perhaps moreso, from the dysfunctional political deadlock. They just want a solution. Like. Three elections ago.
The contempt for democratic process demonstrated this week doesn’t lend itself to a juicy headline but represents a quite serious, ongoing and profound crisis: the undermining of the integrity of democratic institutions. An assault from within, if you will. This week, however, was a new low, or high, depending on one’s perspective.
Democracy is a delicate balance of a range of social, religious and political interests that, neglected or taken for granted, can teeter, seemingly overnight. Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, warned that these events stand as a reminder to all “about the need to respect both our institutions and the rule of law, or risk irrevocable damage to Israel’s democratic system.”
In uncustomarily dark language, right-wing politician Naftali Bennett, was even more blunt:
“Israel is approaching the brink of anarchy … I call on everyone to come to their senses and to show national responsibility. The State of Israel is in urgent need of a stable, functioning government.”
Yes. It really is that bad.
And then, as this column was being submitted, dreadful news broke of the most massive civilian disaster in the history of Israel. It is estimated that tens of thousands of mostly male ultra orthodox of all ages converged on a venue in the north to celebrate at the burial site of a revered rabbi. It appears that poor organization and control led to a panicked stampede and this heartbreaking disaster. Forty five dead, among them children, and more than 150 injured — many critically.
Sunday has been declared a National Day of Mourning in Israel.