Amnon Lord

Amnon Lord is a veteran journalist, film critic, writer, and editor.

Justice minister must get his priorities straight

Gideon Sa'ar's preoccupation with the submarine scandal seems ill-timed when Israel struggles to contain raging violence in the Arab sector.

 

Since Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar is a member of an anti-democratic government, no wonder he is engaged in legislation aimed to suppress the Opposition.

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Sa'ar is working on three fronts: a state commission of inquiry into the submarine scandal, legislation designed to prevent Benjamin Netanyahu from ever serving as prime minister again, and Basic Law: Legislation.

At first, it seemed that Defense Minister Benny Gantz would be tasked with launching the submarine probe, but Sa'ar insisted it fell under his jurisdiction. At the time, it even seemed he was against the move altogether.

Recently he has announced he does support the probe, perhaps in exchange for Gantz's vote in favor of the anti-Netanyahu legislation.

Gantz, Sa'ar, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman have repeatedly shown that being in the government was more important to them than the sovereignty of the state. Likud has not internalized this yet.

No doubt, the Left has managed to pull off the deal of the century following a colossal failure in polls in all four rounds of election campaigns, especially the last one.

In exchange for silence on the already barren front of settlements, the Left enjoys full cooperation from right-wing factions in bringing about its domestic policy aspirations. Labor MK Reform Rabbi Gilad Kariv is already working on the equality law that would formally neutralize Jewish sovereignty in Israel. This sovereignty has already begun unraveling as soon as a government that relies on the Arab Ra'am party was sworn in.

As for the Basic Law: Legislation, it will essentially anchor the Supreme Court's supremacy over the Knesset, constitutionally and institutionally. In recent years, the Supreme Court has been anxious about the loss of public trust in its judges and institutions, and the judiciary in general.

In their opinion, a Basic Law that would return the balance of power would restore public trust as well. But Sa'ar created a committee to draft the law without a single representative from the Opposition. Whereas, it does include representatives of a variety of parties that are part of the coalition. The result is further loss of public trust. The same is true with the committees in charge of the submarine inquiry and the anti-Netanyahu legislation.

Just a few weeks ago, a meeting took place between Bennett and a group of retired security officials who begged him to launch an inquiry into the submarine affair. Surprisingly, not a single former top navy official was present. With the Iranian threat, the return to the nuclear deal and the situation on the Gaza border, what they cared about the most was the submarines.

Sa'ar often eludes criticism with regard to the formation of a left-wing government aided by former right-wingers. The responsibility always lies on Bennett. But Sa'ar busying himself with the submarines while Israel struggles to contain the spread of violence in the Arab sector simply does not look good.

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