Israel Is Not A Democracy, Nor Should It Be

כ' לחודש השנים עשר ב' תשע"ו

Israel's Democratic Collapse
Netanyahu must act immediately to pass legislation to curb the court’s authority and restore the powers of the public’s elected representatives. 

Caroline Glick via Truth Revolt, 3.28.2016 

Israeli democracy is in critical condition. 

Sunday, the High Court of Justice ruled that the government’s natural gas policy is unlawful. The policy, which was negotiated with foreign energy companies, was to be the basis for developing the massive offshore Leviathan gas field. It was supposed to anchor future gas prices, ensure gas revenues for the government and energy security for the country in the coming decades. On the basis of this policy outline, the government negotiated deals to supply natural gas to Egypt, Turkey and Jordan.

Given the enormous cost of developing offshore gas fields, the policy, which was determined in close consultations with legal experts and regulators, determined a base price for natural gas that would be frozen for 10 years. The point of the price freeze was to encourage investors to take the financial risk of exploring and developing Israeli fields. The price freeze guaranteed them a minimal profit on their investment. 

In a healthy democracy, the court would never have agreed to adjudicate the populist petition against the government’s gas policy submitted by a consortium of radical NGOs.
Under normal rules of standing that apply in every other mature democracy in the world, the petitioners would have had no right to submit their petition. 

In states not controlled by a legal junta, as the people’s elected representative it is the government’s sole prerogative to determine the state’s energy policy and to sign deals with foreign governments and investors. 

But in Israel, the court gives standing to whoever it wants. Given the radical pedigree of our justices – who have engineered a process where they appoint themselves – it was not surprising that the court permitted a group of unelected radicals to petition to destroy Israel’s energy sector, and to cause the loss of hundreds of billions of shekels in future revenue to Israeli society. (cont.)

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
As usual, Carolick Glick makes some good points, and rightly calls the State of Israel on its hypocrisy. In the words of the Sun Lion, "Israel is a deMOCKracy."

However, I still do not understand how Jews can possibly believe that "Jewish" and "democratic" are 100% compatible. I do not know about Glick, but I certainly pray for the return of a proper "Jewish" government, one with a King, Sanhedrin, and Beth HaMiqdash (Temple), one which is certainly not a democracy, at least for the most part.

The Sanhedrin did not "vote" per se, and were certainly not "voting" according to their own wishes, but rather, came to a consensus regarding what they believed was the Will of the Holy One, Blessed Be He.

In a democracy, the people may be guided by what they believe to be for the best for their respective societies. Nevertheless, it is about the will of the people, not the determination of what is the Will of HaShem, in other words, the halakhah (Torah Law).

Sure, they also set minhaggim, taqanoth, and gezeroth, as they found to be necessary. However, not everyone was, qualified to sit on the Sanhedrin. As politically incorrect as it may be, women, non-Jews, and even most Jews were not eligible to sit on the Sanhedrin, nor would they be in the future.

Glick concludes with...

If he [PM Netanyahu] fails to act, he will go down in history as a full accomplice in the legal fraternity’s destruction of freedom in the Jewish state.

Freedom? The last time I checked, there are many cases in which Jews' freedom is restricted: What we can eat, what we can do on Shabboth, what we can say about other people, and even who is allowed to reside in the Jewish homeland.

No. A proper, Jewish government may have elements of democracy, such as in local community planning and organization, or authoring of messages, comments, concerns, petitions, and suggestions to the King or local Beth HaDin (court). But, it is by no means identical to the current manifestation of a democracy.

Unfortunately, the State finds those of us who pray for such ends to be a greater threat to its existence that Arab terrorists.

And you wonder why Jews are put into administrative detention for writing articles the State does not like and IDF soldiers are jailed for refusing orders which violate the Torah.