The Courts Cannot be Completely Independent

 

Recently, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked expressed her dismay and disdain for the attacks which have been leveled against her from those in the opposition. This immediately led to their slamming her conduct regarding the appointment of the next police commissioner, and her approach towards the court system. If you wish to read the bile spouted by the likes of Yair Lapid, never at a loss for self-congratulatory rhetoric; Shelly Yachimovich, still believes she should be leader of the Zionist Union and Prime Minister; and Meretz Chairman Tamar Zandberg, it’s Meretz which speaks for itself; an article can be found here. The actual dispute can be put in much clearer and more succinct language, they are upset because they are not, have not been and probably will not be in power for a while. They are especially upset with the Justice Minister because she is not appointing far leftists to the courts and does not agree with their choice for the new police chief. That is their complaint, why are you not running the government how we demand and instead following the mandate of the people who make up the coalition and in particular are from your party. (We must be honest here and report that Jewish Home is the party in which we belong.) Somehow, we are willing to bet this does not surprise many of our readers. We would like to actually discuss one point which was brought forward to refute the disgruntled leftists, where Ayelet Shaked stated, “You have never been fans of the court, you really want it to be a submissive body rather than an independent and strong one. As long as it serves you, it is the center of justice, the minute it rules in a slightly different way; you are ready to burn the place, no less.” She hit the nail on the head and pounded it home, which is probably why they attempted to savage her on social media. Well, at least they played to their ever shrinking base.

 

The left in Israel in particular and the Western World generally, believe that especially the highest court of the land should be the most powerful arm of government and the arena of all final battles. They desire that the court be able to strike down any law even Constitutional Amendments, or Basic Laws in Israel, and even beyond. Their hopes is that the court can change the intent of any law, write new laws and put them into action, change anything in the legal system and they must always be of the most liberal of justices it is possible to appoint. You are seeing examples of their acts in the United States with Justice Kavanaugh. They want the courts to supercede the law, to act above the law and be supreme with the power of a god. I am sure that if they were to get their wildest dreams, they would desire that the Supreme Court could summarily change who won the election simply because they desired the other candidate. This is another reason that Judges must always be from the left. This had been the case for years in Israel as the left ruled undaunted and unchallenged in Israel from 1948 until the election of Menachem Begin in 1977. The means by which replacement Justices were chosen for the Supreme Court were also slanted such that the court itself had a generous influence over who was chosen to such a point that opinion articles often claimed that the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court basically named his own Justices. Well, it eventually had to happen, a conservative became Chief Justice and there was a conservative Justice Minister and between them, the face of the court has been altered. The Justice Minister also was responsible for some alterations by which some of the unilateral power of the court was transferred to lower courts where proof was required to be presented rather than a complaint filed and a ruling made out of thin air. No longer can an NGO simply present a claim that Jews are residing on Arab land and have their homes destroyed without showing any proof. These were necessary changes but the latest brouhaha was over Justice Minister Shaked politely informing the Supreme Court that she did not care how many people filed complaints against the new Nationality Law, they were not to overturn this law because it was enacted as a Basic Law, the closest thing that Israel has to a Constitution. Again, the left desired a court which had unlimited and unfettered power.

 

Let us discuss what power courts should and should not have. Interpret the law is within the boundaries of a Supreme Court, but lower courts should be restricted to the application of the law as currently interpreted. Even the Supreme Court should take care when altering the meaning of a law from its original intent, this is partially why the debate with Kavanaugh over how he would interpret intent of the law. The courts cannot be above the law; no branch of the government should be above the law. Courts should never be permitted to make law out of their own desires simply because they see the need for such a law. A court with such power could completely alter a society with highly unpredictable results. There is a reason that the branch of the government which is assigned the power to make laws has the greatest numbers of people from the widest representation of the people, the people must have the greatest influence on the laws, as they must live within them. Courts should have stringent and defined limits on altering or ordering a new election such as signs of tampering with the way the ballots were cast or in the way they were counted. They should need proof beyond any doubt and this would include such tampering such as having more votes cast than there are registered voters, an area where there is a sizeable population with some definable variety in affiliations resulting in 100% of the votes falling to one candidate, verified proof that additional ballots were injected into the count or additional votes were used to replace actual votes and other provable reasons. Courts actually should have limited or no influence beyond recommendations upon request as to whom will be chosen to replace a retiring justice. Courts should, over time, change with the variations in public opinion though their lagging such changes is to be expected when their justices are chosen to serve lifetime on the bench, or until a mandatory retirement age if such is the law. Courts are not the law but the application of the law. Legislatures write the laws, Prime Minister or Presidents sign them into the books and then and only then the courts get to apply the law as written. The courts do not get the power alter the wording, alter the punctuation nor add or omit words as they believe the law should have been written.

 

Israeli Supreme Court building

 

Back we return to the situation in Israel. The left is becoming downright dejected and forlorn. Their biggest upset is with Justice Minister Ayelet Shaken as she apparently has, in their opinions, broken their favorite toy. They and the Supreme Court for seemingly nearly forever had ruled over Israel as they pleased often to the chagrin of the elected officials, but because of concessions to seemingly moderate parties in the coalition being granted Justice Minister, the courts, especially the Supreme Court, ruled supreme. Along came Ms. Shaked and things began to slowly change. The tide of change started to escalate, but was still quite leisurely. Things really did not appear to be all that different and there had been no explosive volcanic upheavals but suddenly they realized that there had been a seismic shift and they had apparently been asleep. It was probably easy for them to sleep through the changes as things had been going their way pretty much from 1948, so after a while it appeared that things would never change. Things have this way of sneaking up on people and once they notice, it is often far too late to do much about the changes. This is where the frustration and anger originates and the left is furious that Ms. Shaked broke their Supreme Court Muppet Puppets. Their Supreme Court Muppet Puppets were no longer a complete set and the new replacements were not going to just rubber stamp the leftist agenda, and this must not be tolerated. The fact that they are this upset is close to real joy over here but we refuse to get complacent because, as Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” Of course, he was also purported to have written, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants. It is it’s natural manure.” While we have little problem with the first quote, the second is a bit extreme, but Barry Goldwater had something to say about that as well, stating, “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” Perhaps that is sufficient wisdom for one writing.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Games Played by Mahmoud Abbas

 

Mahmoud Abbas knows that he is detested by many of the people over whom he rules in an area, which is permitted semi-autonomous governance, and spends his time all but trapped in his compound in Ramallah. He is viewed, or pretended, to be the key person who decides whether or not there will be peace and is the person most sought when Presidents of the United States decide to tackle the Arab-Israeli conflict. He is plied with bribes, platitudes and given additional pieces of precious real estate all in a fruitless effort for some magical two-state solution to the Palestinian problem. He is currently awaiting the new President of the United States, Donald Trump, to come bearing gifts and bribes in his effort to make what the President himself describes as the “ultimate deal” claiming it presents him with what may be his greatest challenge in solving. The fact that President Trump has set making peace where all before have failed likely has brightened the eyes of Mahmoud Abbas as he knows that he holds the final card to be played and has always laid down the deal breaker instead of playing the peace card. This is a problem of his own making as he has countless times promised that there can be no peace as long as Israel remains the Jewish State. By this, he means that Israel retains its Jewish majority and has not permitted the influx of five to as many as eight million Muslim Arab refugees who will simply vote the Jew out of existence. That is the deal-breaking card he holds to play last. How President Trump can change this reality, does not need remain a mystery. Recognizing Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel, the Heart of Judaism and the center of Israeli governance with the location of the Supreme Court, almost all government central offices and the Knesset Building (see image below) itself where the governance sits as well as the offices of the President and Prime Minister are all nested plus the Temple Mount, the site of the future Temple and place of the First and Second Temples.

 

Ariel View of Knesset Building in Jerusalem

 

Meanwhile, Mahmoud Abbas has his toes in the waters warmed to a pleasing temperature by Iran where the initial requirement is reconciliation between Fatah, the PLO and the Iranian backed Hamas government in Gaza. There has been a tentative agreement reached and the initial phase has been established with Hamas permitting the Palestinian Authority to take over the Rafah Crossing into Egypt, a crossing the Egyptians currently have closed. This turnover is far more symbolic than any actual concession as Hamas brings in most of their weaponry through tunnels under the Egyptian border and receives almost all necessary trade goods, foods, medical supplies and exports their produce and products through the Erez Crossing and the Kerem Shalom Crossing through which numerous tons of goods are transferred.

 

According to the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Well over a million tons of humanitarian supplies entered Gaza from Israel over the last 18 months equaling nearly a ton of aid for every man, woman and child in Gaza.” These deliveries are usually a well kept secret the media prefers not to discuss as it would take away from the image they prefer to paint Israel as the militarist giant which crushed Gazan hopes by shooting Gaza flotilla ships out of the water, another lie as they actually simply have them unload their goods at the port in Ashkelon and truck their goods into Gaza after assuring there are no weapons or dual use forbidden provisions. Israel also provides Gaza with approximately one third to one half of their electricity and much of their fresh water which is also not covered as the “blockade” which had been investigated by the European Union and United Nations and found both necessary and allowing humanitarian aid passage to both groups satisfaction, also something not often discussed. Much more fun to claim Israel is an awful task master as that is a far more popular image painted.

 

Tractor Trailer Trucks Lined Up to Enter Gaza with Supplies Daily

 

Further, Mahmoud Abbas has also left himself open to offers from Iran to provide all the necessary items to arm the Palestinian Authority, PLO and any other forces willing to assist in the Iranian dream of destroying Israel. Such weapons and other wonderful explosive items would be stored in Area A where the IDF is not permitted to operate, which includes but is not limited to places such as Nablus (Biblical Shechem), Bethlehem, Ramallah, Jenin and Hebron (Biblical Hevron). The Iranians would also desire to infiltrate IRGC* troops and likely their vaunted Quds force, a group specifically trained to take control of Jerusalem, specifically the Temple Mount and Old City which makes up much of what the Arabs refer to as East Jerusalem; Israelis and Jews simply refer to Jerusalem as an undivided city and it is governed as such. The main reason that Mahmoud Abbas is not jumping quite yet for the Iranian promised goodies, as well likely large amounts of funds which he can siphon off a good thirty or forty percent, is because he is waiting for a separate and potentially more lucrative deal from President Trump. This is why any Iran dealings either must be very deeply kept secrets, something an IDF intercepting Iranian weapons smuggling would expose. If President Trump were to suspect that Mahmoud Abbas was on the cusp of making a deal with Iran, then President Trump would be disabused of the notion that peace was possible. That would spoil any hopes of deal-making.

 

The Hamas reconciliation has continued at a painfully slow rate and is currently not exactly proceeding smoothly, another good point for making deals with President Trump is problems with completing reunification with Hamas. Everything Mahmoud Abbas does, he does with great care to make sure that he can, at any point, refute charges that he is making or breaking any deal he has in the works. Deal with Hamas, well, it is on for Hamas while working out particular and off as far as President Trump is told as it fell apart as you can plainly see but still moving forward as far as Iran is concerned so as to meet their expectations. If at this point you are confused, then Mahmoud Abbas has succeeded in dealing honestly with you. If you are capable of following this, well, he has muddied the water far more thoroughly than our simple little explanation has displayed. This is the typical number of balls the clown that is Mahmoud Abbas juggles on average with sometimes an Intifada to arrange while decrying the Israeli violence when police or IDF soldiers stop an attack or prevent one by intercepting the terrorist or sometimes shooting one. More often than reported, the shot terrorist is then given Israel assistance in an Israeli hospital free and nursed back to health and returned home when able where they receive a hero’s welcome.

 

Then there was this gem as reported in the New York Times, captioning a picture by Reuters of the teen in an Israeli hospital bed (see image below) “President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority said Ahmad Manasra, 13, was killed by an Israeli on Monday. Then Israel released video of the living boy being treated in a hospital on Thursday.” Numerous news outlets quickly picked up the Abbas story word-for-word from the liar’s lips right onto their front pages or lead on the evening news all about the Israelis murdering this innocent young man simply for running when police ordered him to stop. Below the image is a video of him and his cousin chasing down Israelis with their knives in hand for stabbing them and at the end of the video with knife at the ready about to charge two armed Israeli police officers across the street. This was when he was shot. The story of his survival took from one day to close to a week if ever being corrected by news broadcasts and print and on-line media. Well, which story fits the average world media site better, Israel treats teenage terrorist shot while attacking police or Israeli police murder Palestinian child in cold blood, hear Mahmoud Abbas and his cold description of this horrid act of cold-blooded murder. Also, news providers hate being duped and hate reporting they were duped even worse. They should not feel bad, Mahmoud Abbas is a master at duping the media, which, of course, is not difficult as they drool for any Israel is evil story and then rush when they have one, forgetting to check their facts, but why allow facts to ruin a perfect accusation.

 

Picture by Reuters of the Teen Abbas Reported Killed in an Israeli Hospital Bed

 

 

Now Mahmoud Abbas is readying to dupe the media and another United States President as he has been doing since he came to power after the death of master terrorist Yasser Arafat. It should be noted that Mahmoud Abbas was directly included in the oversight of the planning and execution of the Munich Olympic Games Terror Attack in which almost the entire Israeli Olympic team was murdered by Black September Group terrorists, a special core group of the PLO which was led by Yasser Arafat, and Mahmoud Abbas was in charge of financing and making arrangements for movement, accessing platforms and other details vital to mission success. Mahmoud Abbas initiates terror, encourages terror and pays terrorists and their families for their acts of murder. The remunerations are tied directly to the number of Jews they murder. This reaches such a scale and is so abhorrent to any civilized person that the United States Congress has passed the Taylor Force Act to cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority uses for this purpose. This is mostly a feel good piece of legislation as Mahmoud Abbas will simply rename the funds and continue to pay the families and terrorists in prisons exactly what they get before this legislation and nothing will have changed. The United States will continue funding Mahmoud Abbas and his merry band of murderers and Abbas will continue the pay to slay salaries and incentives. Abbas has done everything he possibly can or will as soon as he thinks of new ways to reward terrorists. He made what has become his most infamous speech encouraging the beginning of the Stabbing Intifada with his “Filthy Feet” speech presented below.

 

 

Mahmoud Abbas has come up with a new incentive for terrorism by now promising that should the Israelis demolish your or your family’s house, the Palestinian Authority will build them an entirely new house for free, no more renting, no more mortgage payments, and a brand new house to replace whatever you lived in before. What a deal. There has been Arab terrorists who commit repeated attacks because in prison, they are fed and it is a means of making an income to support their family. Life in the Israeli prison for the terrorists includes soccer games, pretty much an open cell policy, frequent family and conjugal visitations and the prisoners have their own social life and picnic style lunches. For a description of the life of a terrorist, please read the article, “The Hard Life of Muslim Terrorists in Israeli Prison” for a fairly detailed and descriptive story. Needless to point out that this article is the exception, as again it does not paint Israel and the big, bad monster country run by a mob of venomous vipers who simply revel in the pain of others. Those stories are such a preponderance of evidence against Israelis that many people who came to Europe and took a Mediterranean cruise not realizing that Haifa, Ashkelon or even Tel Aviv were in Israel are shocked if they are brave enough to leave the ship and they find out Israelis are normative western society with some unique problems which have much to so with location and that Israel is not a police state with soldiers with machine guns on every corner just looking for an Arab without their identity card to shoot on the spot. Sure there are soldiers in uniform and many are carrying their service weapon with them, but that is part of what reduces the number of attacks and is what keeps our visitors safe as well as ourselves.

 

What amazes many is when they find out that the vast majority, approaching one-hundred percent, of Arabs or anyone shot in Israel by police or soldiers were in the commission of an act of crime which threatened lives. We do not shoot children for steeling an apple at the shuk. Many of the terrorists shot by police or soldiers were shot while actually attacking the obviously armed police or soldiers. One would ask why would a terrorist attack a heavily armed soldier carrying an assault rifle, a real capable of fully automatic assault rifle, not the pretend assault rifle Nancy Pelosi wants to ban which is really just a gun she believes looks ugly and threatening. The reason the terrorists, particularly the younger terrorists, attack heavily armed soldiers is two fold. First, they know if they get shot dead then their family receives an added bonus in their monthly payment for having a member of the family attack Israelis and this means their brothers and sisters will have enough to eat. Terrorism is quickly becoming the most popular, though not the longest lasting, job for Arab youths in the Palestinian Authority as their economy is ignored and poor at best. Secondly, it is an escape from a life where they have next to no possibility of getting married as their family is poor and men without money do not get wives. And finally, even should they survive, a good possibility as the soldiers and police are trained to shoot to injure rather than kill against lone terrorists, only if their lives are threatened are they even permitted this much defense. Often IDF soldiers have simply disarmed their attacker if not surprised, especially if they are very young, and then taken them home and turned them over to a worried mother still clutching the note from their ten year old or younger child telling mom not to worry, they have taken the knife missing from the kitchen and are going to kill the Jews. Turning them back to their mother will probably serve as a far better deterrent in many instances than arresting them. Yes, there are exceptions where parents send youths out to get the money from the government for the child perpetrating a terror act. The money paid by the Palestinian Authority is a great incentive to many and is a definite problem for all.

 

 

Meanwhile, President Trump according to reports is still stuck on two states for two people living side-by-side in peace, harmony and security. That is a pipe dream and a boat that will not float. If the Arab leadership had actually desired peace, there would be peace and if the IDF really did desire to genocidally murder Palestinian Arabs, there would be no Palestinian Arabs. Those are two truths which are basically ignored by the media and world leaders alike. President Trump will also ignore these truths at his own peril. Our advice, go one step beyond all other Presidents and move the United States Embassy to Jerusalem, recognize an undivided Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel and tell Mahmoud Abbas he has four months to reach an agreement with Israel after which the United States will support Israel taking complete control of all of Judea and Samaria and any resorting to terror or violence will bring that decision that much faster and Israel will be permitted to relocate as many Palestinians as Israel deems necessary with your blessings. Either you are going to make the deal of a lifetime or you are going to give the Israelis the deal of a lifetime, Abbas can choose which.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

* IRGC stands for Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

 

Democracy’s Greatest Threat Wrapped in Black

 

A black robed figure often represents the Angel of Death or can represent a corrupted soul. As such a figure, it could be used to represent a select group of people who have powers greater than the Congress, the Administration or even the “Deep State,” and one who is unafraid to use its powers. Such a figure could even oppose a President and nullify any action he tried to take. They could completely alter the definitions and intentions of any legislation after it has been passed and signed into law. They could have people taken and held incommunicado for as long as they deemed necessary. In their own opinions and rulings, their powers would be unlimited and could not be denied, opposed, weakened or otherwise moderated by anyone in the government and they would not answer except to others of their own kind. Such are the Federal Judiciary of the Justice Department, the police, law enforcement and special officers who can have arrest, detain or otherwise serve writs as instructed by the Judiciary. Their powers can be enforced by the Attorney General, the BATFE (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives), FBI, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), IRS and the remainder of the various law enforcement agencies under the DHS (Department of Homeland Security). The actual individuals we are referencing are the Judges themselves, specifically the Federal Judges.

 

Relatively recently there were two Federal Judges, one in Hawaii and one in Maryland (no surprise) who annulled a directive to the Immigration Department to restrict immigrants from the same six nations which had been named for special considerations by both President George W. Bush and President Obama. The order was to last approximately ninety days or until sufficient methods were put in place for vetting immigrants from these nations. All of the nations have no actual effective governance and no method for identification of their people and are nesting homes for terrorist groups. Both of these judges, United States District Judge Theodore Chuang and United States District Judge Derrick Watson, were both surprisingly, or not, appointed by President Barack Obama. Judges have found rights in the Constitution which have baffled Constitutional scholars as well as us. Who knew that James Madison intended that bakers must bake a cake as fast as they can for anybody no matter how much of an offense to the baker the cake’s intended celebration may be. You are a devout Christian and a baker and a same sex couple would like a specially designed wedding cake and you must bake it or be sued and lose your business. Why wouldn’t a judge not simply order the couple to go and use another baker, who is not so undisposed to desire their business, instead of seeking out a baker who has Bibles on the shelves of his shop and then try and force them to make their cake. We are willing to bet that had one of the pair requested a wedding cake and stated they would add the couple atop the cake later, as they had a special family heirloom they would use and would bring it out at the ceremony, that they would have their cake already as long as they had not eaten it. But common sense, in many ways, has appeared to have left the building in disgust never to return. And this problem goes beyond court decisions and appears to have spread to the general population across the planet.

 

Judges out of control is not merely a problem in the United States. This is also a big problem in Israel. The originating source of the problem comes from the words of Israeli Supreme Court former Chief Justice Israeli Aharon Barak’s in his statement that “everything is justiciable” which has led to serious threats to the Israeli governance. Fortunately, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked is challenging the broad application (pictured below) which had become a major disruption as the Supreme Court has utilized this to dangerously overstep their powers believing they wield unchallengeable powers. This one statement was made, as a justification for the Supreme Court in particular, and judges generally, to take the extra step to right those things they see as wrong. They are to be the final arbiters of everything in Israeli society, life, governing and even military decisions. The Israeli Supreme Court has nullified laws which were passed by the Knesset and approved by the Prime Minister, in some cases more than once. The Israeli Supreme Court altered the route of the Security Barrier which placed some additional Israelis in direct threat of added terror threats. The Israeli Supreme Court has ordered homes in the disputed territories destroyed without ever demanding proof of Arab ownership and even without questioning or meeting the Arab presumed to have owned the land and simply as a response to charges raised by anti-Zionist NGO’s. The Israeli Supreme Courts countermanded orders during the Gaza and Second Lebanon Wars and also in peace times. The Israeli Supreme Court has enacted laws they believed were necessary without any action by the Knesset or Prime Minister and in all of these cases, the Supreme Court refused to admit that these powers were beyond their delineated powers quoting former Chief Justice Aharon Barak’s “everything is justiciable” statement. Rounding up the Israeli Supreme Court expanded powers which were self-declared is something vital for the survival of the Israeli democratic governance. The Supreme Court cannot claim and actually wield such that their power is unopposable and spans placing them over all other branches of government and even over the generals and officers of the military. The Legislative Branch, the Knesset, and the Prime Minister’s Office and Cabinet cannot function to implement the will of the people if the Supreme Court, which we will explain why it does not represent the people and is getting further from the people every day, can overrule every vote, rescind every law, veto every decision and even enact whatever laws they see fit thus making the Knesset and Prime Minister all but irrelevant. Everything stated about the Knesset and Prime Minister goes double for the military which cannot have a court, even a Supreme Court, second guessing officers and their orders during a war as that gets people’s children killed. The Israeli Supreme Court has overruled Ministers in the Cabinet’s funding decisions when they displease the sensitivities of one of the Justices. What a way to run a country.

 

Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked

 

The Israeli Supreme Court chooses its new Justices when a vacancy is made in a way which is unique in the entire world. First is the method for determining the Chief Justice and Deputy Chief Justice which is done by simple seniority, the longest serving judges on the court are appointed to the Chief Justice and Deputy Chief Justice positions. Replacing a retiring Justice on the Supreme Court is performed by a nine-member commission. The selection of the members of the commission guarantees that the Israeli Supreme Court almost never varies from the positions taken by the founding justices in the early 1950’s. The Judicial Selection Committee is a nine-member committee with the members selected as follows:

Justice Minister – Chairman.
Cabinet Minister, chosen by the Cabinet.
Two Knesset Members, (one member from the coalition and one from the opposition).
Two members of the Bar Association (selected by the two largest factions).
The Chief Justice,
Two Judges of the Supreme Court

With the two Supreme Court Justices plus the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and two members from the Bar Association who will likely have to represent people or groups in trials before the Supreme Court there are five people who are obliged to curry favor with the existing Supreme Court or are members of said Supreme Court. That is five out of the nine-member committee and thus a majority. Simple math shows rather quickly, as to why the Israeli Supreme Court seldom has a Justice placed on the bench which is any different in their politics from the existing members on the Supreme Court. While the Israeli public and governance has changed significantly over the years as Israel has grown from being an agrarian economy with a GDP of $2.6 Billion in 1960 which became $6.3 Billion in 1970 climbing to $21.9 Billion in 1980 then taking off to $52.5 Billion in 1990 continuing to rise to $132.4 Billion in 2000 then jumping to $233.7 Billion in 2010 finally reaching $318.7 Billion last year in 2016 and an advanced economy leading the world in many computer, medical, agricultural and other scientific areas of excellence (see graph below). This change from an agrarian economy to one centered inside cities largely surrounding Tel Aviv with an active and admirable high tech core plus making advances in medicine, new drugs, treatments as well as an active energy economic segment which includes ecological imperatives for clean energy, Israel has changed remarkably. She has also changed politically becoming more Zionist and the religious core has broadened and continues to grow. Unfortunately, this has not been represented by the Supreme Court which has the same socialist leftist beliefs at its core as it did in 1960.

Israeli GDP from 1960 to 2016

 

Courts which overstep the presumed limits were a fear expressed by the Founding Fathers; so we will close with some quotes.

“ [N]othing in the Constitution has given [the judiciary] a right to decide for the Executive, more than to the executive to decide for them. Both magistracies are equally independent in the sphere of action assigned to them… the opinion which gives to the judges the right to decide what laws are constitutional, and what are not, not only for themselves in their own sphere of action, but for the Legislature & Executive also, in their spheres, would make the judiciary a despotic branch.” Thomas Jefferson

“The powers properly belonging to one of the departments ought not to be directly and completely administered by either of the other departments. It is equally evident, that none of them ought to possess, directly or indirectly, an overruling influence over the others, in the administration of their respective powers. It will not be denied, that power is of an encroaching nature, and that it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it.” James Madison

“A question arises whether all the powers of government, legislative, executive, and judicial, shall be left in this body? I think a people cannot be long free, nor ever happy, whose government is in one Assembly.”
John Adams

“Our government is now taking so steady a course as to show by what road it will pass to destruction, to wit, by consolidation first, and then corruption…. The engine of consolidation will be the federal judiciary; the two other branches the corrupting and corrupted instruments.” Thomas Jefferson

“There is even now something of ill omen amongst us. I mean that increasing disregard for law which pervades the country — the growing disposition to substitute the wild and furious passion in lieu of the sober judgment of courts, and the worse than savage mobs for the executive ministers of justice. The disposition is awfully fearful in any community; and that it now exists in ours … it would be a violation of truth to deny.” Abraham Lincoln

“The great object of my fear is the federal judiciary. That body, like gravity, ever acting with noiseless foot and unalarming advance, gaining ground step by step and holding what it gains, is engulfing insidiously the [state] governments into the jaws of that [federal government] which feeds them.” Thomas Jefferson

“You seem to consider the judges the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions; a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy. Our judges … and their power [are] the more dangerous as they are in office for life, and are not responsible, as the other functionaries are, to the elective control. The Constitution has erected no such single tribunal, knowing that to whatever hands confided, with the corruptions of time and party, its members would become despots. It has more wisely made all the departments co-equal and co-sovereign within themselves … . When the legislative or executive functionaries act unconstitutionally, they are responsible to the people in their elective capacity. The exemption of the judges from that is quite dangerous enough. I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society, but the people themselves.” Thomas Jefferson

“I fear, dear Sir, we are now in such another crisis, with this difference only, that the judiciary branch is alone and single-handed in the present assaults on the Constitution. But its assaults are more sure and deadly, as from an agent seemingly passive and unassuming.” Thomas Jefferson

We have concluded that Thomas Jefferson had as great a fear of the Judiciary as we have developed and for this reason, as well as others, we really love Thomas Jefferson.

 

Beyond the Cusp