Letters to the Editor May 6, 2020: High Court activism
Readers of The Jerusalem Post have their say.
By LETTERS TO THE EDITORLetters(photo credit: PIXABAY)High Court activismThough the High Court judges may be reluctant to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as suggested by Yonah Jeremy Bob in his analysis (“Where is the High Court going with the fate of Netanyahu?” May 4), I believe that it is premature to conclude, as Bob does, that “the days of a truly activist court are long gone.”In my opinion, the main reason why the High Court favors a unity government, and thus opposes the ousting of Netanyahu, lies in the fact that most of the major portfolios, including Justice, are held by Blue and White, meaning that the country, under a unity government, will probably be Left-leaning, thus minimizing the chance that reforms to the court may be enacted. This, of course, would be in direct contrast to the situation which prevailed during MK Ayelet Shaked’s tenure as justice minister.If a unity government is disqualified by the Court, this will mean a new round of elections, and it is widely thought that the Right will probably win a decisive victory in new elections, since Blue and White leader Benny Gantz’s popularity took a plunge following his decision to establish a coalition dependent on the anti-Israel Joint List.I myself suspect that a reluctance to be faced with new elections may, to some extent, explain the seemingly pro-Netanyahu stand taken by the High Court in refraining to disqualify our prime minister, (if this happens), rather than indicating, as suggested by Bob, that “the justices have tried to shift somewhat towards the center.”RHONA YEMINIGivatayimRegarding “NGO files petition to prevent Netanyahu from forming a government” (May 3), I had almost forgotten the Movement for the Quality of Government in Israel exists. One hears of it so infrequently. Yet here it is valiantly joining the mob howling for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s blood.Is this the best the Movement can do? Instead of demeaning itself with a grubby campaign it should live up to its name and be constantly and vocally trying to influence Israelis to demand a system of government where electors in defined areas (constituencies) have a MK who is answerable to them and whose stint in the Knesset is in their gift.Until the Movement does something of this sort, one may be forgiven for wondering what purpose it serves.OSCAR DAVIESJerusalemCorona consequencesRegarding “Life in the shadow of the coronavirus” (May 4), the cabinet decides to open markets, malls and gyms on Thursday, and Herb Keinon outlines the new normal in his analysis.Keinon describes people who have some fear of going out from the relative safety of their quarantine at home. The includes the over-70 population segment, where reportedly close to 80% of the fatalities occurred. And yet strangely, this group is rarely alluded to in the government announcements of the easing up in the restrictions.In the original instructions from the Health Ministry on March 17 (English version), seniors are told to rely on friends and family to bring home supplies. My wife and I were grateful to friends who kindly did this, but we now look for guidance under the “new normal” and we don’t find this. The only things noted is the we can now be visited by grandchildren (too bad that they are all in Canada, and there are no planes, but that can wait), and that teachers over 55 are not to go to the schools. Otherwise what to do?I have to echo Keinon’s very positive comments of the government’s timely and effective handling of the crisis. This is marred only by our leaders not leading by example – effectively saying, “Do as I say, and not as I do.”To put things in a global perspective, and as shown on the worldometer website, Israel is now ranked #47 of countries in the world, with 27 deaths per million population. By comparison, the UK is #6 with a whopping 423 deaths per million, and the US is #14 with 211. Significantly greater than Israel.DAVID SMITHRa’ananaIn “Has corona brought Israel and Hamas closer to prisoner swap?” (May 1), there is an error that commonly appears in this paper as well in many other publications.The article states that the Gaza Strip is “one of the most densely populated areas in the world”Currently, the Gaza Strip has a population of about 1,820,000 people and an area of about 365 square kilometers. This results in a population density of about 4,986 people per square km.I live in the city of Petah Tikva, which no one can call “densely populated.” It has approximately 244,000 residents in an area of 35.7 sq. km., resulting in a density of 6,835 people per sq. km. This is 37% more densely populated than the Gaza Strip – similar to many other areas around the world!This is not a trivial matter. Non-friends of Israel who see the Gaza Strip portrayed as one of the “mostly densely populated areas in the world” will criticize Israel for not opening its borders and letting some of the “poor” people from Gaza to come and join us in “sparsely populated” IsraelABRAHAM BROTPetah TikvaAnnexation analysisAlthough Tovah Lazaroff’s opinion piece (“Will annexation destroy Israeli-Jordanian peace?” May 4) is much more balanced than the one penned by Gershon Baskin (“Annexation of the West Bank will have catastrophic consequences,” May 2), both raise the specter of violence on the “Arab street” should Israel proceed with plans to annex Jewish communities in Area C and the Jordan Valley.It is important to note that Arab hatred for Jews and Israel is not something that arose spontaneously. Arab leaders have allowed that hatred to spew from mosques, schoolrooms and media outlets, distracting their subjects from their own poverty and lack of freedom by inciting them to think of the “suffering” of their Palestinian brothers and sisters at the hands of the evil Israelis.Baskin is correct about one thing: the peoples’ attitude is not going to change overnight. Neither can Israel bring about the change. The Sunni Arab nations, which seek Israel’s help in resisting Iran’s hegemonic threat, need to begin working to undo their vilification of Israel.Maybe the Saudis’ Um Haroun is signaling a willingness to normalize relations with Israel. Perhaps Arab states will rescind their laws on not granting Palestine “refugees” citizenship. That would mean that the refugees, having been told that they will not be getting the homes they claim their forebears lost in Israel, would not be forced to live under the corrupt rule of the Palestinian leaders.TOBY F. BLOCKAtlanta, GAHistory is not a matter of opinion. It is a reality – one that must be respected, not revised or distorted by the living. Gershon Baskin is playing a dangerous game by changing history in order to promote his political posture.In 1944, in a German POW camp, my husband was trading cigarettes from Red Cross packages for bread in order to feed his starving buddies in the US compound. Looking for bread in the British compound, he came upon 3 POW prisoners talking Hebrew. They were from Samaria – more recently re-labeled the “West Bank” – and the word “Palestine” was sewn on their shirts.They and countless other Jews were the ancient and current natives of the land now in dispute – thank you, Jordan.People like Baskin will ruin our world and our lives if we allow them to destroy facts. Judea ans Samaria have always been Jewish; the land was seized from them.It needs to be that way again, just because invading armies wrest the land from you for a short period of time does not mean that you can no longer call it home.DR. CAROL FINEBLUMNeedham, MAGershon Baskin is concerned about the international community’s failure to prod the Israelis and the Palestinians into a renewed peace process.Has Baskin read the PLO and Hamas charters? Those charters make it clear that the PLO and Hamas have never accepted the existence of a sovereign Jewish state. There is no “peace process,” whatever that is supposed to mean – because only Israel wants peace.The Jordan Valley was recognized by Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 as essential to Israel’s security, and since then, all of Israel’s neighbors have become dangerously unstable. The continued existence of the Hashemite monarchy in Jordan relies on Israel in many ways. Israeli sovereignty in the valley will protect Jordan against being undermined by Iranian proxies, like Lebanon has been, and avoid the rise of a terror state there intent on destroying Israel.Peace, if at all possible, is at least a generation away.JULIA LUTCHDavis, CAGershon Baskin is to be thanked for his lengthy treatise on the Arab-Israeli conflict. This article could have been written by the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood or any of the myriad Soros-backed NGOs.Were it written by any of the regular anti-Israel crowd, it would be brushed off, but as an Israeli Jew is making the case, it will be more carefully scrutinized.This is the narrative in every Islamic school, mosque and media outlet. This is what is being taught on our campuses, promoted by the Muslim Students’ Associations and left-wing academics. This is why students leave universities as antisemites.That it ignores the League of Nations resolutions, and the centuries of dhimmitude in the Arab world poses no problem. That it falsely accepts UN resolutions as “law” as it applies to Israel but not to other countries or entities exposes a double standard. And where do the anti-Zionists get the impression that the 1949 armistice lines are borders?Parents had better understand these issues before they send their gullible children off to be educated or indoctrinated.LEN BENNETTOttawa, On.As the population of Israelis rightfully living in parts of their homeland that the world calls the West Bank approaches a million (including more than 300,000 living in neighborhoods of Jerusalem beyond the 1949 armistice lines), it is unrealistic to think that it is humane or even possible to forcibly exile them from their homes and communities.Yet instead of pursuing a workable path to peace, the PA continues to make impossible demands, tired threats and false claims. As Khaled Abu Toameh points out in “‘If you talk the talk you better walk the walk’” (May 4), the PA has been making the same threats for years. They lack all credibility; if they did actually follow through and “cancel all signed agreements with Israel,” they would only be hurting themselves.Israel should act in accordance with historical and moral justice and not be influenced and intimidated by empty words from an adversary that does not wish it well.ARLENE FAUNCEBat YamMuddling Memorial DayKudos to Prof. Donna Divine for pointing out just how confused a message is sent by the Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day (May 5). More than confusion – the joint ceremony paints a completely distorted vision of the conflict, constructing a moral ambiguity and dissonance which Israelis do not deserve and does not advance peace.Israelis do not go about knifing or car bombing innocent Palestinians. Israelis do not congregate on the hilltops, throwing rocks on passing cars. Israelis have never attempted to destroy in-flight passenger planes or massacre Palestinian athletes. The Israeli government does not support a hostile BDS campaign against Palestinians, nor does it claim that the Palestinians invented the COVID-19 virus.In brief, Israel is at war with a dedicated, malevolent, terrorist entity that artfully hides its true intentions. The time for joint memorial ceremonies will come if and when Palestinian society and its leaders sincerely stop and desist from attempts to destroy Israel and decide to live in peace with the Jewish strip on the Mediterranean.SHALOM GUREVICHBeershevaHampering the handicapped in HebronRegarding the innocuous proposed wheelchair access project, the Hebron municipality said that it will not remain silent “towards these flagrant violations,” adding that the entire site and its surroundings belong only to Palestinians and Muslims (“PA: Tomb of Patriarchs renovation ‘provocative,’” May 5).One has to hand it to them, once they make the decision to claim that this entire land is theirs, there is no stopping them. If only Israel would show such faith, courage and commitment to our homeland. Instead, we talk of “opportunities” given to us by US President Donald Trump, to whom we are unbelievably thankful that he allows us to keep 30% of our own land – although even that comes with conditions that would eventually bring about the lifelong goal of our enemies to destroy us.To thwart this national suicide, we must declare sovereignty throughout the whole land, bringing the Temple Mount and all our holy sites under Jewish control.PHYLLIS STERNNetanya
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