Opinion
Judicial lynch at Ulpana
Moshe Dann
Published: 26.06.12, 11:15
Comment Comment
Print comment Print comment
Back to article
30 Talkbacks for this article
1. Amen!
Sarah B ,   U.S.A. / Israel   (06.26.12)
Succinctly and brilliantly put! It is time to conduct a massive makeover of Israel's judiciary. The only constituent of any Court is supposed to be the law. That has not been the case for a while in Israel. There is no place for judicial activism -- which follows the personal and private agenda of the jurists -- in Israel. Or anywhere else, for that matter. The justices on Israel's high court should be impeached, and better jurists appointed in their stead. Jurists that might actually follow rules of evidence and procedural due process.
2. The problem is the UNdemocratic system in Israel
US ATTORNEY ,   Washington DC   (06.26.12)
There is NO other "democracy" in the world where a person or party can bring a case directly to the Supreme Court and bypass the fact finding lower courts. It is simply ludicrous that this is possible in Israel. The outsome would have been completely different if all parties first had to proceed through fact finding in the lower courts as is done in the US. Only then and after all appeals have been exhausted can a case in the US proceed (IF it takes the case) to the Supreme Court. WHY DOESN'T ANYONE IN ISRAEL SEE THAT THIS IS THE PROMBLEM? WHY DOESN'T THE KNESSET CHANGE THE RULES so that people (usually leftists and Arbs) can not use this trick and avoid having to present proof and the facts??? This is outrageous in a country that calls itself a democracy.
3. #1 - Sarah B
Devorah   (06.26.12)
Kudos, Sarah. The residents of Ulpana had no due process, have no legal recourse, have nothing because of the corrupt and immoral justice system which, as you wrote, must be made over including impeachment of the justices. Also, I agree with your comment on returning Ulpana to its original state. Leave nothing behind for the "palestinians" to gloat over.
4. The Knesset can change this
Zev ,   Israel   (06.26.12)
but for reasons known only to them they don't. There is an old russian saying - "A fish starts to stink from its head", and Netanyahu is responsible.
5. MOSHIACH'S TIMES: Ynet allowing truth about Israel's democra
Chaim ,   Israel   (06.26.12)
where the majority of Israeli citizens believe exactly how Moshe Dann put it: Israeli judges who appoint themselves for life - for as long as secular Israel lives - is a FAR CRY FROM A TRUE DEMOCRACY and MUST IMMEDIATELY BE REPLACED for the good of the state of Israel.
6. #2 Continued... Add to this the fact that judges are all....
US Attorney ,   DC USA   (06.26.12)
self appointed, ie: "chosen" by their politically alligned peers NOT elected and NOT vetted by any democratically elected institutions to insure that POLITICAL ACTIVISM does not run and control the legal system (as it obviously does in Israel). In the US lower judges are democratically elected. Supreme Court judges are intensely interogated by the House and Senate to be sure they can decide cases based on law and fact without letting their personal political views determine their opinions. The system in Israel is a perfect brew pot for payoffs and serious corruption.
7. Transparency needed
Raphael ,   Netanya   (06.26.12)
The public got no evidence about the fraud which lead to this situation: was this piece of building land paid? By whom to whom? Were the ownership documents forged or non existent? Our courts behave hastily and recklessly, regarding as well private and international law. Juges, you must stop despising the citizens who pay you!
8. Is it normal?
.   (06.26.12)
Whatever I read in news following the case made me wonder if judges are normal at all?! The case (started in 90-s) is brought to Court after almost 20 years and the settlers are kicked out... At the same time the Prime minister says that we have to prevent such cases from happening since it is not normal: to give back the land with constructions on it if somebody complains after damn 20 years. Nobody, I mean nobody, complained at least for 10 years the neighborhood existed. I think it is just unacceptable...not because it is The Jewish land, just because you cannot sit for twenty years and wait till I built here something and then come and complain.
9. As soon as this article is off the front page...
Orly ,   Jerusalem, Israel   (06.26.12)
... a vicious anti-zionist article will be featured, in the name of "balanced journalism." The stronger the right-wing expose (i.e. the stronger factually or in hyperbole) so too the stronger the op-ed that is to follow in anti-zionist bile.
10. How to overcome the corruption
israel israeli ,   tel aviv   (06.26.12)
The problem in the Defense Ministry can be solved by firing Barak and putting a Likudnik in charge. Since Netanyahu insists on keeping Barak, he can't say he is helpless. Don't promote members of the AG who participate in this corruption. When their contract ends they will get a job with an NGO. Pass a law that prohibits the High Court from accepting a case directly while refusing to hear evidence. Lastly, start a parliamentary investigation of the High Court justices. Do they hire illegal workers? Is all their income declared? Have they ever built anything without all the permits? Are their investments free of conflict of interest?
11. The right of every citizen to appeal directly...
Israeli attorney   (06.26.12)
to the Suoreme Court is undemocratiC?
12. To Israeli Attorney from US ATTORNEY
US ATTORNEY ,   Washington DC USA   (06.26.12)
If Israeli's understood the meaning of DEMOCRACY you would have fixed the corruption in your system a long time ago. This case should have been thrown back to the lower courts for full disclosure of the FACTS. The Supreme Court in any real democracy would not touch the case until that had all been done and all previous appeals exhaused.
13. These people were never even given their day in court....!!!
Democracy? ,   not in Israel   (06.26.12)
By the time (if that ever) happens, the homes they paid for on the land they paid for will be long since destroyed. In fact the Arabs who "say" their father owned the land have never been in court either. Nor the other Arab by the same name who these people gave their money to. Can we honestly believe there is justice in Israel if this is how the system is run? Rule of law? Only if you can pay for it.
14. Bear in mind: the PM opposes Judicial Reform
Tracy W   (06.26.12)
Last November the Prime Minister reiterated his opposition to a bill that would require petitioners to the High Court to prove they posses legal standing before their motions can be heard by the court. Supporters of judicial reform point to a long-established norm in Western common law. The DOCTRINE OF LEGAL STANDING means a person cannot bring a suit challenging the constitutionality of a law unless the plaintiff can demonstrate that the plaintiff will be harmed by the law. If not so, the court can dismiss the case. But in Israel "right wing" politicians and the Supreme Court work hand in hand to implement the leftist agenda. Those "right wing" policians don't want Judicial Reform of any kind. Things are working just fine for them. We should remember that in 1992 the Knesset voted for laws that have been providing the Supreme Court with the capacity to cancel legislation legally passed by representatives of the people of Israel. The Knesset could - if it wanted to - modify or annul those laws.
15. 11 - Destroying a person's property arbitrarily is tyranny
Ilan   (06.26.12)
The owners of the buildings in the Ulpana were never given the right to defend the legality of their purchase. If that isn't a perversion of the judicial and democratic process then nothing is. Maybe they should raise the level of the bar here. We settle for too little when it comes to good government.
16. To: No. 2
Sarah B ,   U.S.A. / Israel   (06.26.12)
Actually, the U.S. Supreme Court is the court of original jurisdiction in treason cases (see U.S. v. Aaron Burr). The U.S. Supreme Court is also the court of original jurisdiction for conflicts between the states (see, inter alia, New Jersey v. New York; Arizona v. California). As you know, the United States Supreme Court does not have the right to decline to take such cases. Moreover, a judicial finding of unconstitutionality by the highest state court flies straight to the U.S. Supreme Court -- effectively bypassing the U.S. District Courts and Courts of Appeal, and is not subject to a vote to decide whether to hear the case or not Just sayin'.
17. To: No. 11
Sarah B ,   U.S.A. / Israel   (06.26.12)
An ersatz "Palestinian" supposed landowner (never established through the fact-finding process) in the West Bank is all of a sudden an Israeli citizen? And do you really mean to suggest that every Israeli citizen who objects to a parking ticket should have the right to appeal directly to the Supreme Court? And doesn't "appeal" imply a lower court ruling from which an appeal is taken? You must be a very, very recent graduate of law school ....
18. To: No. 6
Sarah B ,   U.S.A. / Israel   (06.26.12)
Actually, lowest level state court judges are elected. All state appellate judicial vacancies are filled via appointment to the bench. All federal court vacancies are by presidential appointment. And I'm not too sure about the "intense interrogation" process, either. Could Hugo Black have been appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court today? He was, after all, in his youth in Alabama, a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Robert Bork, arguably one of the most learned legal scholars in the United States, was denied an appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court because of his personal opinions on abortion. No one bothered to determine if he was capable of following the law of the land rather than his own personal view. Antonin Scalia is a U.S. Supreme Court justice, and does not believe in abortion. Clarence Thomas is a U.S. Supreme Court justice -- do you remember that embarrassing freakshow? Does Clarence Thomas belong on the highest court in the land? Since I really do not feel like heaving the contents of my stomach this early in the morning, I will refrain from launching myself upon the "qualifications" of Associate Justice Sotomayor.
19. ISRAEL'S FUTURE AT STAKE !
FO ,   Belgium   (06.26.12)
As long as the Israeli supreme court can unharmed violate the rights given to the Jews by the League of Nations in 1922, rights that became International Law and REAFFIRMED by Article 80 of the Charter of the United Nations, Israel will remain in big trouble and its future at stake !
20. Change Israel's judicial system NOW
meir ,   TA   (06.26.12)
It is not helpful to bring examples of judicial systems from other countries, except perhaps as models for reform. The problem in Israel is the State Prosecutor and Attorney General, which are controlled by people with an anti-settlement agenda. Technically, they are under the Minister of Justice, but are effectively autonomous and impervious to criticism. The High Court was their willing accomplice. A coup d'etat -- it's all legal.
21. High Court requires serious reform.
Chaim ,   Israel   (06.26.12)
The High Court has long been in the pocket of a small minority of radical leftists. It needs serious reform. Firstly, it must be made subservient to the Knesset, which is accountable to the people. Secondly, we need to replace the far leftist judges with patriots.
22. The PEOPLE have never even had their day in court......!!!!!
SUPREME INJUSTICE ,   Tel Aviv   (06.26.12)
NOBODY has ever represented THEM in court. No Arabs have ever appeared in court. There is no proof anyone else owns this land. This is worse than cruel and insane, it's CRIMINAL. These people have had all of their human and humane rights violated. No proof, no due process and they loose their money AND are thrown into the street?
23. Ulpana
Mordechai ,   Beit Shemesh   (06.26.12)
the usual claptrap from a right wing fascist, democracy rules and occupation doesn't!
24. Here's an idea
Trinsch ,   Pardes Hannah, IL   (06.27.12)
Stop building on land behind the green line. See that way you won't get into trouble about who owns what - from the single plot to the land itself. What a load of crap to talk about lack of democracy and how the government cannot oppose the supreme court when the land disputed is placed in a territory where only the Jewish settlers can actually vote for that same government.
25. Trinsch #24: Just to educate you, the
Robert Haymond ,   Israel/Gush Etzion   (06.27.12)
infamous "Green Line" is actually a ceasefire line, most recently from 1967 when the Jordanian general and Moshe Dayan sat down with a green felt marker and outlined where their respective troops were. It was never meant to be a marker differentiating Israeli borders from its neighbours. Furthermore, the green felt pen was thick and the ostensible ceasefire line covered a wide area even on the map much less in reality.
26. To: No. 24
Sarah B ,   U.S.A. / Israel   (06.27.12)
Here's a better idea. Annex Judea and Samaria, repatriate its Arab squatters to Jordan, country of their citizenship, and then build wherever you want in Eretz Israel. We have every right to keep and annex the land; we do not have to tolerate violent and terrorist illegal aliens in our midst. Send them home -- just like every other country in the world does with undesirable aliens. Who cares about international opinion? I'm supposed to care about what terrorist-loving Ashton thinks? That's just not going to happen. Contemplate this: if Israel does not ACT like a sovereign nation, it has no right to expect to be TREATED like a sovereign nation. It really is time to stop being shrinking violets terrified of international opinion. Frankly, the world feared and respected us far more when we were tough; when we defiantly unified Jerusalem and annexed the Golan Heights. I'm with Machiavelli -- it is far better to be feared than loved. You can never force someone to love you. You can, however, make them fear you. That's a degree of control over your enemies over which THEY have no control. Suits me.
27. #10 Israeli, Your last paragraph is pure gold
2Mad ,   ירושלים, ארץ ישראל   (06.27.12)
Unfortunately, as a tzadik corrects tzadik - a scum defends scum. They make noisy gestures in their PR shows, but are packed together tightly like a bunch of monkeys. If you touch any one of them, others will bite you to death.
28. Sarah B please ask yourself this
Jonathan ,   MN/US   (06.27.12)
If the Israeli goverment can legaly do what you say they should be doing regarding the palestinians, why have'nt they done so already?
29. Robert #25
trinsch ,   pardes hannah, IL   (06.28.12)
what on earth are you talking about?! here in the real world where i live there is such a thing as a recognized green line - even among israelis. anyway, if for a moment we are to go along with your thick green felt marker-theory then that would only be a good supporting argument as to why ALL residents in this thick felted area should be israeli citizens and be able to vote - and not just ethnic jews.
30. @ #28:
CDG ,   Yerushalayim, IL   (06.28.12)
As with many other things in this still-unredeemed world, the state of Israel is unique - in the respect you mention, in a bad way. Israel indeed refrains from doing many perfectly legal things, including annexing Judea and Samaria and transferring the Palestinians elsewhere (but even Jordan was part of the Palestinian region given to the Jews until the British yanked it back and gave it to Arabs). It doesn't make sense to me either, but that's the reality - unless our leadership finally wakes up and does what is best for the country, and not for itself (and why this situation is considered best for our leadership is beyond me.). The problem is that we haven't yet found a way to permanently rid ourselves of these self-serving political leeches, mainly because most of the people here whom the world perceives as alternatives, really aren't. Those who are, are ridiculed and ignored - there are a few who withstand this treatment and march on anyhow, and I applaud them, but it isn't enough to change the system, at least for now. Even so-called democratic elections haven't helped in decades. There always seems to be something in the way after the elections are over...and even those we thought would help, sometimes turn out to be the worst of all. I hope this helps. Sarah B, keep marching on. You're doing great.
Back to article