editorials
Israel’s Supreme Court Must Stay
Independent T
he issue has been brewing for quite some
time. The far-right and ultra-Orthodox
parties in prime minister-designate Benjamin
Netanyahu’s anticipated coalition government
are unhappy with several rulings of Israel’s
Supreme Court.

They want to put a system in place that
will allow a simple majority of the Knesset to
overrule court decisions, even those that fi nd
a particular law passed by the Knesset or an
administrative ruling of a government minis-
try to be unconstitutional or to violate basic
human rights.

Earlier this year — at a time when the
hard-right and haredi parties were plotting in
opposition — legislation was being considered
to change Israel’s current multitiered vetting and
approval process for the selection and appoint-
ment of Supreme Court justices. The new approach
would have justices chosen by the parties in power
and confi rmed by a majority vote in the Knesset so
that the dominant political leadership of the day
would control the entire process. Early last sum-
mer, Likud and its right-wing allies chose not to
propose the change. Instead, they decided to wait
to see what a new election would bring.

And that gamble paid off . But rather than pro-
moting an approach that would enable them to
pack the court with favored justices, the hard right
Israel’s Supreme Court Building
is pursuing a plan to authorize a simple majority of
the Knesset to override any Supreme Court ruling.

The proposed override law is troubling. An over-
ride law would signifi cantly erode the Supreme
Court’s independence and severely limit the court’s
ability to block laws or governmental decisions
that are deemed illegal or in violation of human
rights. Instead, the very politicians who passed
the problematic law or regulation will be able to
re-pass the law and override the Supreme Court
with a simple majority vote.

Each of the major factions in Netanyahu’s right-
wing coalition has reason to support an override
law. For the radical right, the Knesset could
bypass rulings placing limits on the confi sca-
tion of land owned by Palestinians in the West
Bank. For the ultra-Orthodox, the law would
provide a path to avoid troubling rulings on
military service by haredi Jews and assure
continued funding with no supervision for the
ultra-Orthodox education system. And fi nally,
for Likud and Netanyahu, an override law could
have signifi cant impact on continued pursuit by
the government of corruption charges against
elected offi cials, including Netanyahu.

When reports of coalition agreement on the
override law became public, more than 100 law
professors and lecturers from Israel’s leading
universities and academic institutions signed
a letter opposing the law and warning that it “will
seriously damage the protection of human rights.”
The letter also predicted that the bill would “trans-
form the citizens of Israel from citizens with rights,
whom the Knesset must respect, and the court pro-
tect, to those who are subject to the mercy of the
political majority at any given moment.”
The eyes of the world are carefully watching
how Netanyahu navigates the competing political
demands of his empowered and doctrinaire coali-
tion partners. Taking steps to neuter an indepen-
dent judiciary and impose rule by political fi at is
bad government and even worse politics. JE
I n November 1941, a radio program aired in time for
Thanksgiving. Called “Psalm for a Dark Year,” it was
written and produced by Norman Corwin, a Jewish
creator of depth and poignancy who became known
as American radio’s “poet laureate.”
That dark November, Europe was at war. Soon
after the broadcast, Japanese planes attacked Pearl
Harbor and, in a fl ash, America was at war as well.

Like Corwin and his listeners, we sense that we
have been through a dark year. And like them, we
don’t know what lies ahead — although for them,
the unthinkable was still to come.

This has been a year of growing hate and
antisemitism, of further and deeper political divi-
sions, of war in Europe and mounting threats to
world order, of sustained economic concerns and
mounting uncertainty, and the ever-louder alarm
that we lack what it takes to save ourselves and
our planet.

Despite these concerns, we know that we are
12 NOVEMBER 24, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
fortunate, and we know that there is reason to be
grateful and hopeful as we gather for Thanksgiving.

Our democracy was put through a stress test this
month, and it is holding up just fi ne. Ukraine’s
David is beating back Russia’s Goliath.

Two years ago, we couldn’t gather for
Thanksgiving. This year, we gather with family and
friends with less fear of COVID-19. We are closer
than ever to our congregations and our commu-
nity. The receding pandemic has left us joyful and
open to new ways of expressing our Judaism. And
if we look at the part of the glass that’s full, we
can appreciate all the good the United States has
provided to us and to our community.

We are proud to be American and Jewish. We
give thanks that our Jewish heritage is one of joy
and deep knowledge — a tree of life that can help
lift us above petty distractions. We give thanks
that there were Jews who dreamed big and worked
hard to create and sustain the state of Israel — yes,
imperfect but an ongoing blessing and inspiration
for us and for the world. And we are grateful for
the Thanksgiving holiday, which still unites all of
America’s people in gratitude.

So let’s all take a moment to consider how for-
tunate we are to be a part of the American experi-
ence and to be able to call this place home.

Corwin felt it was important to blend his Jewish
heritage into his radio program at a time when
America had much less familiarity with Jews and
Judaism than it does today. In “Psalm for a Dark
Year,” a shofar was blown to stir gratitude: “Let
now the ram’s horn of my father’s tribe resound
a note of Thanksgiving,” he said. And he gave us
a Thanksgiving psalm for this or any other dark
year: “Give thanks where thanks are due. We shall
give thanks tonight for song, and bread, and such a
thing as love, and dogged hope. And for the guar-
antee of morning somewhere.”
Amen. JE
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Psalm for a Dark Year