1.
Mr. President, over the past one hundred years, Jewish society has been through crises far greater than the current passionate debate over changes to the judicial system. On more than one occasion we have been on the verge of bloody internecine conflict, but nevertheless, cool heads prevailed, and civil war did not erupt. Remember what your grandfather, the late Isaac Halevi Herzog, said in the 1940s: Our prophets only warned of two destructions of the Jewish commonwealths, and hence a third destruction will not happen.
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The use of the terrifying code word "civil war" is akin to a gun placed against our collective discourse and probably had you chuck the much-better compromise that you initially promoted (the "Deans Compromise", which has enjoyed overwhelming support inside the Coalition). It is also what had you approach the Israel Democracy Institute, whose extreme position essentially calls for the Supreme Court to control the Knesset and the government and only cements the existing situation in which the public's elections are not really important because the courts run the country and set its values instead of elected officials. This situation allows even a single judge to undo the votes of 120 MKs who represent the sovereign. Because who are we, after all, the millions of citizens who empowered our elected officials to deliberate on laws and to legislate for us compared to the brilliant judge perched up near where divinity dwells, who decides that a law is unreasonable?
Mr. President, in the Nov. 1 election the Coalition's voters voted for their basic freedom and for shaping the future of the country through their ballot slip. Denying this from them is akin to the biblical parable of taking the poor man's lamb. If we do not remedy this disgrace, the result would be a perpetual state of civilian slavery as one of our dreamers, Avraham (Yair) Stern, wrote in his poem "Anonymous Soldiers". Like slaves brought with a whip, we want to be forever free.
2.
During the Saison, brothers in arms were turned over to the British, and in 1948, at the time of the establishment of the state, in the Altalena affair, when 16 underground fighters and three soldiers were killed from the fire of their brothers in arms, Menachem Begin spoke out harshly against David Ben-Gurion but he commanded: "We will not open fire. There will be no civil war when the enemy is at the gate."
In the early 1950s, the violent dispute over reparations from Germany had the potential to blow up into something far worse; there were many Holocaust survivors living at the time, and the wounds were still fresh and bleeding, but there was no civil war.
At the time of the Oslo Accords, Then as well, disagreement spilled out onto the streets, and one Jew committed a terrible deed and shot dead Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. But there was no civil war.
When the government of Israel decided to uproot the Jews from Gaza, we were torn apart once again. Honest pioneers were portrayed as a danger to the country and their name was marred by the media. Homes were demolished, the dead were exhumed from their graves. Protests filled the streets again, but there was no civil war.
3.
We are an ancient people. The bonds that bind us together and our common fate and long history are far stronger than the disputes that divide us. Shortly before his death, Moses instructs the people to learn from history, especially at moments of great crisis: "Remember the days of old; reflect upon the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will tell you; your elders, and they will inform you." (Deuteronomy 32:7) There is good reason that Jewish tradition and practice is full of sayings and commandments to remember the past and learn from it for the sake of the present.
At the time of the Great Revolt (66-70), Vespasian who was laying siege to Jerusalem, decided to return to Rome and seize the reins of power after three emperors had ruled Rome in less than a year. The besieged citizens of Jerusalem received a chance to prepare for war, but they were busy with a civil war. They killed each other and burned their food stores. When Vespasian's son Titus began his siege of Jerusalem a few days before Passover in 70 CE, Jewish society was crumbling, hungry, and had little resources with which to defend itself. Despite that ,the Jewish rebels fought heroically, but it wasn't enough and the Second Temple was destroyed. We remember this well, and that is why a civil war will not break.
The problem is that our enemies also remember. The irresponsible talk on the right to refuse orders, the divisive rhetoric, and the threats of civil war are considered proof of the "cobweb theory" articulated by Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. This explains the daring attempt to stage a massive attack in Israel's north this week, which was thankfully thwarted by security forces. It was only several months ago that we were promised a new border deal with Lebanon, under which Israel handed over some of its territorial waters to its neighbor (but effectively to Hezbollah), would bolster our security and lower the terrorist group's motivation to fight us. Then-Prime Minister Yair Lapid even canceled the parliamentary debate and the judiciary stayed silent to help pass the problematic agreement because people were convinced peace was at hand. In the wake of the former security officials' making those stunning remarks prodding not to abide by the orders of an elected government but only to the courts, our enemies have been smelling blood. This plan, Mr. President, only adds fuel to the fire.
4.
The compromise the Coalition must adopt as a basis for negotiations is the "Dean Compromise" – even without courageous leadership in the Opposition. Herzog knows its details well, and most of it has been accepted by Coalition leaders. On the one hand, there are bills put forth by the government, and on the other hand, there is the compromise formulated by the IDI – which lacks any compromise, and which was adopted by the president. In the middle, there is the Deans Compromise, which could be the possible way out of this gridlock. Go with it, so that we can say "A redeemer has come to Zion."
However, the call for compromise is not a call to shelve the reform. A massive majority of Israelis, including parts of the Opposition, support the changes to the judiciary and restoring the balance of power between the three branches of government. People talk about checking and restraining the Knesset, but forget to ask, who is going to place checks on the justices to prevent them from overreaching with self-proclaimed power? The protesters say they worry about democracy but what guarantees the state's Jewish character? On this matter, we cannot count on the current makeup of the court. Democracy is the rule of the people. Against the justifiable desire to safeguard the rights of the minority from the tyranny of the majority, the High Court's ruling has gone in another direction: the tyranny of the minority.
5.
From the moment the judicial reform was announced, the leaders of the Coalition have called for dialogue with the Opposition. However, this has been in vain. Behind the scenes, some of the elements associated with Supreme Court justices who oppose compromise have been stirring the pot. Thus, the Opposition requires leadership with intellectual gravitas and a historical perspective that understands the enormity of the hour. The leaders of the Opposition must stand against the pyromaniacs in their ranks, those that call for civil disobedience and refusal to serve, who seek to harm the Israeli economy, and who lobby the nations of the world to intervene in our internal affairs.
The Opposition's refusal to engage in dialogue on compromise is connected to psychological-historical mechanisms in which the Revisionists and the Likud, the Religious Zionists and the ultra-Orthodox requested legitimacy for their rule from Mapai and its successors, the descendants of the socialist avant-garde of the early 20th century. The protestors believe that if they don't grant legitimacy to the reforms, then at the moment of truth the Coalition parties will lose confidence and suspend the legislation.
However, a new generation has arisen, a leadership that understands that its legitimacy comes from the people, which elected it, not from the TV studios or the ivory tower of academia or the judiciary. Therefore, the reform will continue, as it is vital to restoring the democratic liberty to a great sector of the public by placing the right balance between the branches of government. We have been through worse crises than the present one but the boundaries of protest were never transgressed. The same will happen this time. The bonds that bind us are deep and greater than any dispute, no matter how grave. There will be no civil war.
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