Rosh Hashana - What of the Future?

On the eve of Rosh Hashana many of us - probably not all, reflect on the events of the past year and certainly, from a political standpoint, we in Israel have very little if anything of which to be proud.  From a personal and moral point of view, each to his own conscience. When it comes to human dignity, we have the Nation-State Law 1 that is an affront and an insult to Israel’s non-Jewish minorities, the Regulation Law 2 - (passed on 6th February 2017) legalization of land grabs for religious Zionist settlers in territories occupied during the June 1967 Six Day War.

Stealing land “in good faith” is now legal. How on earth can stealing land from its owners, whether Palestinian or others, ever be considered legal if carried out in “good faith” whatever the hell that means?  The trend in Israel is a swing towards an extreme right-wing regime that is a threat to Israel’s once vibrant democracy and a move towards a totalitarian ideology. Israel’s democracy can best be described today as an “eroded democracy”.

Today Israeli citizens, who oppose the present Israeli Government, are viewed as traitors and are ostracised and are even told to leave Israel as their ilk is not welcome in Israel by many right-wing supporters. Those who do not agree with the Likud-Bayit Ha Yehudi with the ultra-Orthodox non-Zionist "coalition tag-along's" agenda are viewed as enemies of Israel. There is no limitation to the number of terms a serving prime minister can be re-elected. PM Netanyahu, who is suspected of criminal activity and under police investigation in at least three cases, is still in office and his wife Sarah is on the road to being charged with fraud. The majority of the Israeli public still supports Netanyahu. They view these cases against Netanyahu as trumped up and a conspiracy by Israel’s enemies to bring down Netanyahu. Even in the US, Donald Trump cannot serve more than two terms as president. The US has hope that Trump will not remain president indefinitely. Why cannot Israel’s prime ministerial term not be limited to a maximum of two terms (eight years) as in the US?

The Minister of Justice, Ayelet Shaked 3, is doing all she can to weaken Israel’s Court system and making it conform with her party agenda. Judges appointed to the High Court of Appeal must be conservative and not conflict with her Jewish Home Party 4 (Bayit Ha Yehudi) agenda. She even stated that her efforts to introduce more conservative figures to the Supreme Court have made it more representative of the Israeli public as a whole rather than “a branch of Meretz” — the dovish left-wing political party. This, of course, is absolute nonsense. It is as if she has appointed herself to be the "supreme" Chief Justice and decide what is legal and what is not according to her boss, Naftali Bennett and his sidekick, MK Bezalel Smotrich, a right-wing extremist and dyed-in-the-wool Kahanist. These are the MKs that Netanyahu tries not to upset. Even senior members of the legal committee, past and present, who are certainly not identified with Meretz or any other political party, take strong exception to Ayelet Shaked’s statements. It appears that in Shaked’s view, true justice can only be achieved by Israel’s Law Courts if it complies with the agenda of her judge appointees according to her party agenda. Ayelet Shaked has hopes of running for prime minister in the future 5.

The list of intimidation of private citizens who are suspects of being anti-Israel (that means opposition to the present Israeli Government) continues to grow. There have been interrogations and harassment of returning Israeli Citizens at  Ben Gurion Airport.

For those who are interested in the erosion of the law system in Israel can consult the website of the Association of Civil Rights in Israel. Check out the summary of the present summer Knesset session on this link.

It is really sad that Israel’s electorate is moving in a dangerous, uncompromising right-wing direction and there is no doubt that at this rate, the chances of Israel moving towards fascism and a clamping of mouths direction in the coming New Year is not as remote as one would like to believe.

Despite my Pessimistic Prediction (I hope that I am proved wrong) I wish my readers a Happy New Year - a year of Peace between all our peoples and neighbours, Health and Happiness in the coming year.

References:

1. "Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People - Wikipedia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_Law:_Israel_as_the_Nation-State_of_the_Jewish_People. Accessed 7 Sep. 2018.
2. "Regulation Law - Wikipedia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_Law. Accessed 7 Sep. 2018.
3. "Ayelet Shaked - Wikipedia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayelet_Shaked. Accessed 7 Sep. 2018.
4. "The Jewish Home - Wikipedia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jewish_Home. Accessed 7 Sep. 2018.
5. "Ayelet Shaked: I may run for prime minister eventually - Israel News ...." 18 Jul. 2018, https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Ayelet-Shaked-I-may-run-for-prime-minister-eventually-562767. Accessed 7 Sep. 2018.