Good Monday evening. This is Daniel Allott with The Hill's Top Opinions.
Anyone who's visited Israel knows how different its two main cities – Jerusalem and Tel Aviv – have become. Though just 40 miles apart, the cities and their cultural differences neatly capture the choice Israelis' now confront, writes former ambassador KENNETH C. BRILL.
In effect, Brill says, it's a choice between Israel's past and its future.
Benjamin Netanyahu's conservative government has proposed legislation that would take power away from the judiciary in its role as a check on the Knesset's (Israel's parliament) power. The legislation has been met with strong opposition in and out of government, including many weeks of near-daily street protests. One thing both sides seem to agree on is that the legislation would be pivotal to Israel's future.
Brill reports:
"Those supporting the government believe the Supreme Court has been too liberal and needs to be reined in so it cannot challenge government efforts to deal with challenges they believe face the country. Those opposed to the legislation claim it will undermine Israel's future as a democracy and be a death knell for minority rights."
According to Brill, who's visited Israel many times over 40 years, the debate can be viewed through the mindsets of Israel's two main cities — conservative, religious and identity-focused Jerusalem versus dynamic, diverse and entrepreneurial Tel Aviv.
"If Israel is approaching a pivotal point in its history, the question is will that pivot lead to a future more in the direction of Tel Aviv or Jerusalem?" Brill asks.
"Israel has a history of rough-and-tumble democratic politics that has successfully balanced the Jerusalem and Tel Aviv mindsets. But Netanyahu's efforts to sideline the Supreme Court as the referee of Israel's democracy suggest he wants to lock in the political advantage his far-right coalition currently enjoys."
Recent news reports indicate that Netanyahu will suspend the judicial overhaul legislation. But whether the legislation will be abandoned altogether remains an open question.
Brill concludes: "If [the Netanyahu government] presses ahead with its current Jerusalem-mindset approach to 'judicial reform,' Israel could become just another Middle Eastern country ruled by a government that cares more about power and how to hold on to it than about the rights of its people — and the long-term strength and prosperity that comes from a democratic society with a Tel Aviv-mindset will diminish."
Read Brill's piece here.
Not subscribed to The Hill's Top Opinions? Sign up here.
No comments:
Post a Comment