60 Comments

I was thrilled to hear this news. I'm a Reform Jew in the US and the Ultra Right in Israel does not consider me a "real" Jew. They would turn against all the Reform Jews into the country!!!

Expand full comment

They think they are the only true Jewish people. They seem awfully hate filled.

Expand full comment

I'm tired of Netanyahu turning Israel into a theocracy.

His narrow-minded moves go against a central core of Judaism: Tikkun Olam.

That means: working to make the world we're in a better place.

Expand full comment

This is true of all fundamentalists, who use religion as a cudgel against basic human rights. Jesus hung out with the oppressed, not the Romans. He'd be leading rainbow and BLM marches in the U.S. and would turn the tables at fundamentalist prosperity churches in the U.S.

Expand full comment

Not according to Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, and the National Rifle Association.

He would be packing an AR-15, and standing at the Rio Grande, blasting anyone who didn't look like the German Renaissance-era paintings of Christ.

Expand full comment

So much déja vu! Same scenario for all fascist movements. Bibi did not invent anything. They all (with trump, bolsonaro, erdogan, putin, etc) have read goebbels and propaganda. Lock em up!

Expand full comment

An analogy of Israel's Basic Law and interpretation by the Israeli Supreme Court here in the US is Marbury v Madison, which consecrated *judicial review* as a fundamental duty of federal courts in interpreting laws passed by Congress vis-à-vis the Constitution, passing such reviews if need be ultimately up to SCOTUS. Netanyahu and his extremist coalition sought to short-circuit the process in Israel by "redefining" the purview of the SC, attempting to drastically diminish their remit by legislation to that end.

Here, though, we don't need a radical Congress to "redefine" Marbury v Madison, we have instead extremist ideologues and partisan hacks in the federal judiciary - including SCOTUS - placing their own spin on judicial review in order to arrive at decisions to fit political ends. The effect is the same, and with lifetime appointments and unenforceable "ethics standards", we in the US have to contend with both a broken Congress and with runaway state legislatures, all the while attempting to gain relief in the face of judicial extremism.

Israel has at least for the moment restored the rule of law...we're still working through the process after tRump's scorched-earth approach to governance, and we can only hope that the courts AND SCOTUS settle the matter conclusively throughout this seminal year in preserving democracy.

Expand full comment
author

It’s their Marbury moment, yes

Expand full comment

We need to reelect Biden and get him to expand the court, and if we can have Dems dominate in both the Senate and House, we might get some real judicial accountability.

Expand full comment

I like the notion of 15 jurists serving on Israel's Supreme Court...definitely could use that here.

Expand full comment

Biden has no intention of expanding the court, and there would be no way of getting that through Congress anyway, failing an unlikely blue wave in both houses. Let's focus on the possible.

Expand full comment

I think it is possible, but might not be probable. I always aim for what I want and accept less if I have to. So, I will respectfully disagree with you. As the late Mike Royko always said, "It ain't over 'til it's over!" Why does Biden have no intention of expanding the court, because he cannot risk seeming that radical and alienating the fence sitters. Once in his final term that become a non-issue.

Expand full comment

He has said he won't.

Expand full comment

Times can change. So, we shall see. If he were totally rigid he would not be a good president. However, given that it would freak too many people out, it is a good position to have right now.

Expand full comment

I had not thought about the possible parallels between Israel's political struggles that have landed in front of their Supreme Court and the decisions facing our Supreme Court. How interesting.

Did not realize Israel lacks a Constitution, either. That is remarkable.

I read Israel as a Parliamentary system is saddled with the same fatal flaw that led to Germany's post-World War 1 Parliament getting overrun by the Nazis, a structure that allows a tail to wag the dog: there is no minimum percentage a party (and there are not just two, but dozens of parties that put up candidates https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_Israel) must have in order to get a spot in Parliament. This leads to haggling and weakening of the larger parties as they desperately try to patch together unwieldy coalitions to get the necessary majority--arrangements that constantly fall apart. And it directly led to Netanyahu coming back into power, despite relatively weak support of his policies among the population.

Expand full comment
Jan 2Liked by Jay Kuo

Not as remarkable as you think. The UK has no written constitution.

Expand full comment

Ah. Learning a lot today.

Expand full comment

Always makes a day better IMO. I also learned about it from Jays explainer, and appreciated your thoughts on the weakness of many parties. Though i think that is still better than our FPTP system Stateside.

Ive been encouraged to see ranked choice voting gaining steam. Maine used it to get rid of that absolutely dreadful governor of theirs a lil while back.

Expand full comment

Alaska is using ranked choice voting as well, and it is definitely resulting in a rebalancing and making it much harder for extremists on either side to make it into power.

Expand full comment

It’s all based on Magna Carta, various laws, and, of course court precedent — British “common law”

Incidentally, British Common Law is still used by courts throughout the world, particularly the British Commonwealth and the United States, as stare decisis (precedent decisions). An important American exception is the State of Louisiana, which has Napoleonic Code, which means everything has to be done by statute. Thanks, Nappy.

Expand full comment

Netanyahu and tRump BOTH should exile to Russia . . . Or face the Mussolini treatment.

Expand full comment

I say North Korea. Why, because they need to experience being the minorities that they are willing to make life so difficult for.

Expand full comment

You mention that “insurrection” was not described in our Constitution, but isn’t it? What about “giving aid and comfort” to an enemy? That is exactly what Trump did on January 6 (and since) when he first did NOTHING to try and stop those ransacking the Capitol, and also when he told them “I love you”, and “you did nothing wrong”. This was surely “giving aid and comfort”. Why is this not being talked about?

Expand full comment

And what about his promise to the rioters to support them in their future troubles with the law.

Expand full comment

"The Court comprises 15 justices, and two of the liberal justices including the President of the Court had recently retired, so this was the final ruling of their tenure."

I'm not familiar with the next steps for the Israeli high court, but doesn't that suggest that the majority that adjudicated this will disappear if a challenge of some kind is renewed? Who is replacing those two liberal justices? Right wingers from Likud? Seems like an important question. My other question is why he and Ken Paxton seem to be indicted forever and no trial happens? These scurvy, horrible people drive me crazy.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu's extremism is giving birth to a new generation of Israel-haters in Palestine. These poor kids will be more virulent than ever in their hatred. His defensive lapses, which seemed almost intentional, allowed Hamas to pull off a terrible attack. There is significant documentation that he had lots of warning before the attack and did nothing. The attempt to neuter the Supreme Court also severely weakened the country. He played footsies with Hamas leaders into order to gain leverage over the West Bank-based Palestinian political leadership. In fact, reports indicate that he poured money into Hamas itself:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-years-netanyahu-propped-up-hamas-now-its-blown-up-in-our-faces/

His carpet bombing of Gaza, killing more than 20,000 innocent people, has cost Israel considerable sympathy across the world, which is, in turn, creating ugly anti-Jewish and anti-Semitic manifestations in the United States and other western democracies.

To summarize: Benjamin Netanyahu is the world's most dangerous anti-Semite since the founding of Israel. And that's saying a lot.

Expand full comment
author

I tried to find more on this but couldn’t

Expand full comment

Thanks. I looked it up and didn't find much...Turns out that Acting Supreme Court President Uzi Vogelman, who replaces Esther Hayut because she had to retire (70 is mandatory retirement age for Supremes in Israel, something we would do well to emulate), is acting President because Israel's justice minister, who is a radical righty, refuses to convene the committee that chooses her replacement. Maybe that situation applies to both retirees.

The 12-3 ruling you also mentioned probably reduces the damage from that behavior unless Netanyahu simply refuses to abide by the ruling, which is something Trump would do so I can imagine him doing that. If he does, he may be underestimating the wrath of Israel's youth.

Expand full comment

Jay, thank you for your incisive, thoughtful, and smart take on these two wannabe dictators. Frightening. Israel's political discord plays into the hands of Hamas, which initiated the war with their murderous slaughter of Israelis on October 7. Authoritarian and terrorist leaders around the world would love to defeat democracies. Our job as voters and activists is to stop them. Together, we must work to make the world better.

Expand full comment

I'm very disappointed in you. You really don't seem to have done your research. In the US, laws can be deemed unconstitutional and thus struck down. Israel never got around to writing a constitution, instead they have Basic Laws. A law can be found by the court to not fit within the framework of the Basic Laws.

In the 90s, in what almost all leading legal scholars (including Allan Dershowitz and Micah Goodman in Israel) consider to be gross overreach, then Chief Justice Aharon Barak struck down a law based on "reasonability" - basically, he simply did not agree with the law.

Since then, this premise has been used to strike down many laws passed by large majorities in the Knesset. What's worse is that unlike in America, the government does not have a direct say in selecting the justices. The justices are basically a self-appointing body, all from a specific demographic and political leaning, which does not at all represent the diversity of the country. The "radical judicial reforms" passed by the government was to strike down 'reasonability' as grounds to disqualify a law. After all, it makes absolutely no sense that a self-appointed subjective body should have veto power over all laws in the country. And now they struck this down! Very "democratic" indeed!

Expand full comment

“The Supreme Court also will soon face the thorny question of Trump’s eligibility to appear on the ballot.”

Not so thorny. VERY straightforward.

Is he over 35?

Is he a natural-born citizen?

Has he resided in the US for 14 years?

Has he participated in an insurrection?

Any answers other than Yes-Yes-Yes-No means he can’t be President.

His folks want to make it sound complicated, saying “support” is different than “defend”, the President isn’t an “office” holder, and other nonsense ad infinitum.

We should not give credence to their obvious attempts to lie about what they Constitution says or what he did.

Not “thorny” at all. Don’t argue their case for them.

Expand full comment

Jay - I keep seeing headlines of how many young & Democratic voters are turning against President Biden because of his alleged support of Netanyahu. I didn't think that President Biden is supporting Netanyahu, especially given the similarities between Netanyahu & Trump? Could you shed some light on this?

Expand full comment

Yes, please. And some advice on how to respond.

Expand full comment
Jan 5·edited Jan 5

Colleen,

See below link to HCR's further explanation since Jay has his plate full with excellent legal analysis and so many additional important issues to be addressed.

Expand full comment

Thank you. I read Professor Richardson every morning. Except I took a couple of days off during the holidays, not to whoop it up, but to try to settle myself. Some days, I just have to cry … like those first weeks and months of 11/16….. I will press on, but, ffs, what is wrong with people?

Expand full comment

I can relate! I keep focusing on all the people, like you, who follow Professor Richardson & Jay to help me get through this total insanity.

Expand full comment

When my sister and I have these moments of agreement, we’ve started to say, “And also with you.” Kind of a nod to our (bygone for me but not for her) days in the pews.

So, Heike, and also with you. Your reach-out pulled me back from the ledge. 💙

Robert Hubbell, too.

Expand full comment

"And also with you", Colleen. Thank you.

Expand full comment

I should add that Heather Cox Richardson gave a good summary in her Jan. 2, 2024 post on Facebook & Substack of the Biden administration's diplomatic handling of this conflict, and it shows how President Biden's involvement has not been supportive of Netanyahu. Here it is:

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-2-2024?utm_campaign=email-post&r=gc9ac&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Expand full comment

Thank you for the explanation. Netanyahu is a criminal that needs to be held accountable.

Expand full comment

Excellent Jay! Thank you.

Expand full comment

Netanyahu is in the same club as Putin and Xi Jinping, et al. DJT wants to join the club. The next few months will determine the fate of this Nation. Let's hope and pray that we stay a Democracy!

Expand full comment

Hoping and praying won’t do it. That’s crossing your fingers and wishing the problem gets solved by others.

If you want us to stay a Democracy then actual action is needed. “Let’s vote and join phone banks and donate and go door to door if that’s what it takes.”.

Expand full comment