Jerusalem staggers,
Judah is falling;
their words and deeds are against the Lord,
defying his glorious presence.
The look on their faces testifies against them;
they parade their sin like Sodom;
they do not hide it.
Woe to them!
They have brought disaster upon themselves.
Tell the righteous it will be well with them,
for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.
Woe to the wicked!
Disaster is upon them!
They will be paid back
for what their hands have done.
Isaiah 3: 8-11
Tens of thousands of protestors arrive in Jerusalem Saturday after marching from Tel Aviv https://static.timesofisrael.com/www/uploads/2023/07/WhatsApp-Image-2023-07-22-at-19.45.00.jpg?
I am much troubled this morning, and so I turned to my daily Bible reading and this is what I saw. It was not the comfort I was seeking! Today is a fateful day for Jerusalem and for Israel as a nation. My heart is torn and my knees are trembling. What have we done? God brought Jews from the ends of the Earth back to the Land of Israel, united us in a common vision of a modern State, we built a magnificent, successful nation with a stable economy and blessed the world with our daring innovations. But we did not give the glory to God who protected us and blessed us. Instead we became puffed up and full of pride in the work of our own hands. Now we are tearing our nation apart. Our enemies are rubbing their hands in glee, waiting for the right moment to pounce and destroy.
Today the final discussion will be held concerning the proposed Bill revoking the so-called ‘Reasonableness Doctrine’ and, some time in the next few days, the third and final vote will be taken. For the last 29 consecutive weeks hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets in protest. As I write thousands are pouring into Jerusalem in a last ditch attempt to stop the passage of the Bill. They have set up a tent city in Sacher Park, and plan to stay as long as needed.
Thankfully the protests have not yet devolved into serious violence and rioting, though they have blocked major roads for hours on end and caused much disruption to daily life. The Histadrut (national labor union) has given the government a deadline of 4PM today to delay the vote, or else they will call out an open-ended national strike. Other professional groups, including medical personnel, are also threatening strikes. This would be a disaster. Of even more concern, is the increasing number of army volunteer reservists who are refusing to report for duty, now numbering over 10,000, including over 1100 air force pilots. This is undermining our defense capability and makes us look vulnerable before our enemies, even though we all know that if we were to come under attack, every one of those reservists would immediately report for service.
So what is all the fuss about? I will attempt to explain. The current government coalition, led by Bibi Netanyahu, is trying to reform the judiciary and in so doing has laid on the table a raft of proposed Bills. Whilst no one contests that some reform of the judiciary is needed, the proposed Bills, if passed into Law, will seriously undermine the independence of the Supreme Court and essentially put the sitting government above the Law. The two pillars of a successful modern democracy is an elected Parliament (in Israel called the Knesset) and a politically independent Judiciary. Those opposed to the proposed changes feel that they will destroy the independence of the Judiciary and so destroy Israel’s democratic nature, replacing it with a kind of religious ‘theocracy’ controlled by extreme, right-wing, ultra-orthodox elements. The current Bill is just the thin end of the wedge. If it passes, it will open the door for a whole raft of legislation which will oppress many sectors of society, including Muslims and Christians, and even non-Orthodox Jews.
The current proposed Bill will revoke the Reasonableness Doctrine which gives the Supreme Court the power to override laws passed by the Knesset if they are seen as unreasonable or contrary to the Basic Law. This is similar to the power of the King in the UK, or the Governor General in Commonwealth nations, to veto government actions. This is especially important in countries, like Israel, which lack a Constitution, in that it protects the country from the abuse of power by a government.
A recent example of the Reasonableness Doctrine in action occurred when Netanyahu decided to appoint Arieh Deeri, the leader of the Shas Party, as Health and Interior Minister despite his past criminal convictions. “Deeri, as part of his 2022 plea bargain, promised he would not return to public life. The High Court ruled that due to Deri’s criminal history – he has been convicted twice of crimes (2000, 2022) and served a stint in prison in 2002 – was “unreasonable in the extreme” and allowed the application of the reasonableness doctrine to disqualify him from serving as a minister” (1).
Many Israelis believe that the proposal to overthrow the Reasonableness Doctrine is intended to open the door for Deeri’s return to the Ministry and also to protect Netanyahu from expulsion from government if he is found guilty by the courts in any one of the four criminal court cases proceeding against him.
Supporters of the proposed reform say that the Reasonableness Doctrine is too subjective and gives the Courts an excessive power over the government. They may have a point, but it seems to me that the solution is to refine the doctrine rather than abolish it altogether. For a more detailed explanation see https://www.ajc.org/news/what-is-israels-reasonableness-legislation-and-why-is-it-so-contentious or https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-reason-for-reasonableness-a-doctrine-at-the-heart-of-the-overhaul-explained/
Last week Netanyahu was admitted to hospital after fainting and striking his head. They told us it was a result of dehydration but they fitted him with an heart monitor which yesterday detected an irregularity in his heart. Last night he had a cardiac pacemaker surgically implanted, and he says he will be present when the votes are taken. He is under extreme pressure (I sure would not want to be in his shoes) and has backed himself into a corner where he is being controlled by the extreme ultra-religious elements of his government coalition. He either has to go ahead and risk irreparable rifts in Israeli society which could lead to civil war, or he has to back down which would destroy his coalition and cause the government to collapse. In my opinion, the latter would be the preferable course of action but he is a proud man and will not want to lose face or lose power (though he has already lost his power, not to mention his reputation, as far as I can see). If you want to find out more about the nature of our current government I suggest you do a Google search under the names of Itamar Ben-Gvir, the leader of Otzmah Yehudit (Jewish Power) Party, the largest coalition partner, and Arieh Deeri, the leader of the Shas Party. You will see that our government is literally being led by criminals. May the LORD help us all.
One of the effects of all this turmoil is an increase in polarization, and the boldness of extreme elements particularly from the religious right. Two Messianic/Christian events were recently disrupted by ultra-Orthodox groups, who blocked entry cursing, pushing and assaulting those trying to enter. Priests, nuns, Christian pilgrims and tourists are routinely being assaulted on our streets, and churches vandalized (2). Although this sort of action is not new, it is increasing in frequency and severity. The Messianic Bible College of Israel in Netanya was also recently attacked by an arsonist but police are claiming she was just a ‘mentally disturbed’ woman.
It is not surprising these things are happening as the religious right government is creating an atmosphere of hatred against anyone who does not fit in their narrow definition of what it is to be Jewish. An ex-colleague of Ben Gvir, in a recent TV interview, explaining that Ben Gvir who was once deeply involved in the banned Kach movement, still believes in its ideology, but since getting into the government has learned to temper his words. Even so it is clear that his ultimate goal is to expel all ‘non-Jews’ from Israel, the West Bank and Gaza and establish a state under halachic rule (according to a strict application of the rabbinic interpretation of the Torah). If the proposed changes to the balance of power between government and the Supreme Court go through, there will be little to stop him.
There is much more I could say at this time, but time is critical and I want to ask you to pray fervently for God’s mercy on His people at this time – not because we deserve it, but for His name’s sake.
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