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Racial Justice Lessons From Israeli Protestors
The recipe for a more equitable America.
For the better part of 2023, the news has focused on plans by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government to overhaul Israel’s judicial system.
The plan would weaken the Supreme Court, affecting everything from who selects judges, to the court’s ability to overturn cabinet members’ actions, to even the court’s ability to overturn laws that violate Israel’s version of the Bill of Rights.
On July 24, 2023, one of those pieces became law.
The new law prohibits Israeli courts from using what’s called the “reasonableness doctrine” to review decisions made by the Israeli cabinet, government ministers, and other unspecified “elected officials, as determined by law.” It does not apply to legislation passed.
This “reasonableness” standard was adopted over decades of Israeli jurisprudence using pieces of Jewish law, British law, and the American legal system.
It’s been used to overturn an Israeli cabinet’s refusal to fortify classrooms for kids in an area of Israel that had been hit by Islamic Jihad bombs. It was used to stop a convicted criminal from holding a ministerial position in government.
