Friends, as promised, I've written an expanded analysis of Israel's looming constitutional crisis, with bonus analysis of how it may presage the unraveling of our own sickly democracy. See if it doesn't chill you to the bone!
Democracy's Denouement: Is Israel Blazing a Trail That America Will Soon Follow?
Israel, usually a beacon of democratic stability in a region blessed with precious little of either, is careening towards a constitutional crisis, as the establishment left and the populist right vie for control of the Jewish state.
To make a long story short, the country's supreme court is gearing up to invalidate the actions of the Knesset (Israel's parliament), which recently voted to make the legislature sovereign and to pare back judicial authority. Israelis may soon face the dilemma, therefore, of obeying either the (conservative and elected) Knesset and Prime Minister, or the (progressive and unelected) judges of the high court, with both sides claiming to wield ultimate power over the Israeli state.
These days, most "responsible", and therefore establishment-approved, voices insist that the conservative government of Israel should back down and let the judges have their way with Israeli "democracy". At best, judicial and constitutional reform should be pursued with agonizing slowness, and with deference to judicial prerogatives.
That's certainly the perspective of the Biden Administration, which, shockingly, has sought to intervene directly in Israeli internal affairs, wagging its highly influential finger at the Netanyahu government. For some reason, American progressives, who are increasingly contemptuous of the U.S. Supreme Court, assailing its alleged corruption and tyranny, get awfully pious when discussing the powers and legitimacy of the Israeli high court, which regularly strikes down laws and appointments made by conservatives due to their “unreasonableness”. It's hard to escape the conclusion that, from the leftist perspective, what makes a court, or any institution, legitimate in the first place is whether it does their bidding.
Be this as it may, what's really at stake in the present battle is whether Israel will be a left-leaning, mostly secular social "democracy", in which the people are subordinated to an all-knowing progressive elite and expert class, or whether it will be a right-leaning, mildly theocratic Jewish state, in which parliamentary elections choose governing coalitions with broad powers to, well, govern, even if they choose to do so in ways that make progressives groan.
Critically, it's the right that currently holds most of the cards, democratically speaking, since it prevailed in Israel's last parliamentary election. It thus has the ability to assemble a parliamentary majority in favor of fundamental reforms of the judicial system.
The Left, accurately sensing the peril it is in, is doing its best to put its finger on the political scales to alter the outcome of a process over which it has lost democratic/parliamentary control. Establishment figures and progressives have agreed on a strategy that essentially holds the country hostage, by threatening that anything less than surrender on the part of Netanyahu and his conservative allies will produce political, economic, and social chaos -- which, since the leftists will be orchestrating and inflicting the chaos, is quite believable.
Among the tactics that the Left is already pursuing, or is actively considering, are: a general strike, global economic boycotts against Israel, street violence, blocking major highways, and even the refusal of Israeli Defense Force reservists to fulfill their military obligations. The goal is to push the Israeli economy into recession, to make Israeli society increasingly fractious, to threaten Israeli citizens' basic sense of security, to make ordinary commerce and daily life more challenging, to ruin Israel's international reputation, and to jeopardize Israel's national security – all to prevent the elected government of the country from functioning as a normal government would.
The question of the hour is: will Israel's elected leaders submit to leftist/establishment intimidation, or will they press on?
There is another question, though, that we in America might want to ponder: does Israel's current predicament presage the unraveling of our own constitutional and democratic system, which both Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and progressives, seem to expect, even though both sides assume that their partisan and ideological enemies will be ultimately responsible.
Consider that the Left and the establishment have spent years trying to undermine, by legal, legislative, diplomatic, economic, and cultural means, the decision of the British people in 2016 to pursue “Brexit”, i.e. an exit from the European Union. Not for the first time, progressives and establishment types interpreted “democracy” as necessitating the negation of the people's freely expressed, democratic will. By some accounts, the establishment has succeeded in frustrating the process of Brexit and rendering Britain's exit from the EU so “soft” and conciliatory that it accomplishes little in terms of reclaiming British sovereignty and independence.
Consider that, in the wake of Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 election, progressives, Democrats, and some RINOs worked feverishly to prevent Trump from taking office, to limit his powers once he assumed office, to delegitimize him in office, and to evict him from office as soon as possible, and on the flimsiest of pretexts. The “will of the people” hardly entered into the equation.
Consider that, in 2020, establishment forces in the Democratic Party, government bureaucracies, the media, social media, corporations, the education system, non-profits, the courts, and other key institutions worked in concert to “protect” the 2020 presidential election from Trump and his alleged dirty tricks, meaning that the terms of the election, and the ways in which information was shared about it, were changed to guarantee one party – the Democrats – victory. What's more, some of these forces jointly planned mass BLM-style unrest to force Donald Trump from office, if he proved hesitant to go.
When the U.S. faces its own inevitable “constitutional crisis”, therefore, perhaps in the wake of the 2024 election, or perhaps in the form of a Democratic Party effort to “pack” the Supreme Court with pliable leftist judges, what are the chances that we too will face similar tactics of intimidation, lawlessness, and politically-engineered chaos, designed to bully us into accepting permanent leftist hegemony?
Israel's present crisis should, thus, be seen for what it is: a proxy war between the global, establishment Left, and the global, populist right. The Left is, in essence, fine-tuning its menu of tactics and strategies to reverse, or render irrelevant, the outcome of democratic elections that it deems unfavorable. If the establishment Left succeeds in Israel, and if Netanyahu and his colleagues ultimately back down, you can bet that Democrats can and will adopt the Israeli opposition's playbook here.
When the fateful hour arrives, we will see, at the very least, strikes, severe economic turbulence, international boycotts, civil disobedience, mass protests, and (“righteous”) political violence. Given the recent actions of the Biden Administration, we can safely assume that the Democrats' game plan will also include arrests and selective, adversarial prosecutions, the imprisonment of dissidents, censorship of opposition figures, and direct collusion with a compliant media and social media. We may or may not be able to fight back effectively against such a ruthless, multifaceted program of anti-democratic actions by the establishment Left, but we owe it to ourselves to see it coming and to do our best to prepare.
Democrats, progressives, and their fellow travelers in the political, cultural, and economic establishment tell us very frankly that their campaign of vilification against Donald Trump and his populist “ultra MAGA” movement are part of an “existential” battle for “democracy”. As we have seen, the “democracy” part is mere rhetoric. The “existential” part, however, is utterly sincere, and leftists and establishment figures worldwide are increasingly willing to do whatever it takes to protect their grip on power. The question now isn't what will they do to beat conservatives into submission, but what won't they do?
Dr. Nicholas L. Waddy is an Associate Professor of History at SUNY Alfred and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com. He appears on the Newsmaker Show on WLEA 1480/106.9.
And here it is at World Net Daily:
https://www.wnd.com/2023/08/israels-establishment-left-blazing-trail-u-s-will-follow/
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In other news, something truly miraculous happened today: CNN fact-checked Joe Biden! It pointed out a number of "false personal anecdotes" that Biden included in a speech about the economy. Granted, if Trump had delivered the same whoppers, CNN would have called them "lies", not "false...anecdotes". Speaking of which, how can an "anecdote" be "false"? If it's made up, it's not an anecdote! It's a fairy tale. Anyway, luckily for Sleepy Joe he and his fellow Democrats are never held accountable for their mendacity, stupidity, illegality, corruption, or general bad behavior. This, too, will be swept under the rug.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: Your essay credibly expresses and solidly supports ,the view that the confrontation between democratic government and utterly determined and mobilized totalitarianism, notably in both Israel and the US ,is of terrible global importance. I presume to add this: I'm not Jewish but I think the assertion that Judaism has a covenant with an omnipotent Lord, to be an example of how that good Power intends that humans live and to demonstrate historically proven unconquerable constancy in the face of incalculably malevolent threat, is very plausible. That too, I think, also makes Israel's integrity and survivability a vital matter for humanity. A very telling measure of a country's civilization is it's support for this great nation.
ReplyDeleteRAY TO JACK
DeleteDon't forget that Israel is a product of the visions of that late 19th and early 20th Century Austrian Jewish Visionary Theodor Herzl who wrote "The Jewish State" and started the movement for the Jews to have their own country, which, by the way, was not where Israel is located today. Other areas were considered (such as Madagascar) before the British Mandate of Palestine was decided on.
It should be noted that Herzl was NOT a religious person, so Judaism was not figured into the equation. And in fact, none of the people who founded the State of Israel later were religious in the least, to include people like David Ben Gurion,(spelling?) and others.
Israel is a secular state, and for the most part has always tended to The Left. For further study of this subject, I suggest you read "Jews in Fighter Jets: by David Cloud. Cloud is a big supporter of Israel but he also knows very well (having visited there frequently) that it is anything by religious.
In conclusion, I suggest you reconsider that covenant Israel/Judah HAD with Yahweh, which was finished with the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. The so called Jews and their state of Israel are no worse or no better than any other group of people who have NOT yet accepted Jesus Christ.
And dragging out The Holocaust will do no good either, since most of the religious Jews who survived The Holocaust ended up going to The U.S. after WW 2. Also, I might mention that many of the early founding fathers of the current State of Israel were originally Socialists. Study up Jack!
Jack, I must say, Ray makes some powerful points! American conservatives tend to romanticize Israel, because the Israeli government has done a good job of coopting many conservative and Christian thought leaders, but Israel, and Israelis, are a complicated phenomenon, to say the least. They've had a common enemy for most of their history, which of course is a great asset, in many ways, but now that fear of Arab aggression is fading I expect the leftist, secular "Jews", and the hardcore fundamentalist Jews, will find it harder and harder to get along. Demographics are important to politics here, as we all know, but there too. Are most recent immigrants supporting the right or the left? I dunno. Is the expanding Arab population (with Israeli citizenship) a force that could tip the scales someday? I dunno that either. I suspect, though, that the Left is fighting so frenetically to preserve the power of the high court because they think that, without it, their goose might be cooked...
ReplyDeleteRAY TO NICK
DeleteAlways thought it was ironic that many of the Orthodox (religious) Jewish communities in Israel don't recognize the founding of Israel. They believe only the Messiah can reestablish Israel. When these communities are not infighting amongst themselves, they are raising hell with the secular Jews about something.
Anyway, I really don't care about Israel problems, when I think about the fact that what freedom remains in our own country will be gone completely if the DemoNistas remain in power in this country come next year.
RAY TO NICK
DeleteJust to let you know how progressive Israel is, in1993 they lifted the ban on Gays serving in the IDF. In this regard, they are way ahead of us in matters of defense and related issues. Can this be called "Warfare in The Enemy's Rear"?
Dr. Waddy et al from Jack: Ray: you support your advice to me well and I will gladly follow it. My knowledge of the history of Judaism is scanty and I look forward to some enlightening reading. I grew up in a community with lots of Jewish people and was taught alot about Jewish culture then. That has helped to form my admiration for Judaism. Dr. Waddy: overromanticizing a subject (I had strains of the theme from Exodus motivating me)is best mitigated by fact.I look forward to being better informed on a field I consider vital.
ReplyDeleteRAY TO JACK
DeleteI was not blasting your opinions about Judaism and related subjects as I hope you realize.
I always thought it was interesting that before WW 2 and The Holocaust, that most of the European Jews (especially in Western Europe) were not much interested in going to the then British Mandate of Palestine and working on a Kibbutz growing fruits and vegetables. Many of them would have been better off if they had left Europe, because the Holocaust got them before they could get out and go anywhere.
Also of interest (among many many other facts, Yes facts) is that when Israel was declared in 1948, many Jews living in Arab Muslim countries for centuries were kicked out of those countries BECAUSE of Israel being established. Many went to Israel because they were in more than a few cases too poor to go to the U.S. or elsewhere. Once in Israel, they were looked down upon by European Jews who ran everything in Israel then and still do. There was a novel I recall about the Israel Defense Force in which this theme was introduced. I forgot the author's name, but the title was "Infiltration".
As far as The Holocaust goes it has been used as a crutch to stifle any criticism of Israel government policies such as conflicts with the Arabs and the 1967 War. Lest we forget, millions and millions of non-Jewish Europeans were deliberately murdered by The Nazis during WW 2. Approximately 3 million non-Jewish Poles were killed by the Nazis for starters. Read the "Other Holocaust" by Norman Davies on this.
As far as identity as Jewish goes, was it Jean Paul Sartre who said "Any man is a Jew who any other man calls a Jew" or something along those lines.
Yes, of course The Holocaust happened, and it started out in broad daylight with the SS openly shooting thousands and thousands of Jews, aided and abetted by Ukrainian militia, the biggest Nazi collaborators in Europe, and who later supplied the auxiliary guards for the Death Camps in Poland.
Once again, Israel is a secular state, who enjoys the tourism provided by Christians who still believe that the place is "The Holy Land". A real cash cow to be sure. Reminds me of pilgrims before The Crusades who were buying up fragments of the "True Cross" by the splinter full. What a racket!
RAY TO NICK
ReplyDeleteJust to let you know that some really important things are happening all around us, I was browsing Yahoo News, and saw the article "What do vaginal odors mean? Experts explain when you should worry." So I was thinking: Do Israeli women have this problem? If they do, then it is something their Supreme court needs to turn its attention to.
Dr. Waddy et al from Jack: I'm glad to know that Israel faces less threat of Arab aggression. What about Persian aggression? I believe I heard in a recent commentary that China and Iran have conducted joint naval exercises. What might that portend?. I've been sketchily aware of socialist influence in Israel and it's founding; perhaps it was beneficial(?) But I'll bet the present conflict in Israel is brought on by incipiently totalitarian neo marxist "socialists". Did marxists have a hand in the foundation of the Jewish state?
ReplyDeleteRAY TO NICK AND JACK
ReplyDeleteA good book to read about U.S. involvement with Israel is "Against Our Better Judgment: The Hidden History of How the U.S. was Used to Create Israel" by Alison Weir. It was our President Truman who "pushed the ticket" on this. So now we (and the world) get to share in the disastrous consequence of this decision. Back to Theodor Herzl and his original vision. The support Israel no matter what crowd is strongest among many Christian Pastors who believe in the rapture and the tribulation which will focus on The Holy Land. This was NOT part of Christian theology until the 19th Century until John Nelson Darby cooked this up. Some Christian pastors are making a mint off books designed to brain-wash this theory. "Support Israel or you will burn in hell"! type threat. The late Tim LaHaye made millions on this with his "Left Behind" series. John Hagee and his megachurch in San Antonio push this stuff.
Ray from Jack: Thanks for the detail, almost all of which I was unacquainted with.As you and Doc Waddy have maintained ,it is a very complicated subject. I waxed prosaic on it without having the detailed knowledge needed to creditably do so. I'm looking forward to some good reading..
ReplyDeleteRAY TO JACK
ReplyDeleteThanks. Nothing wrong with your initial comments on the subject of Israel, in that they are based on what the majority of people in the U.S. are exposed to in the media and so on, which is, needless to say, very general. Most of us here grew up to believe that any comments not reflecting on how wonderful Israel was, amounted to blasphemy. The truth of the matter, Israel is a secular state like any other.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: I do hope that the probably neo marxist present left in Israel does face a possibility of its goose being cooked! Israel appears to be a thriving democracy and that left's obvious totalitarian intent is beneath contempt. They see even Israel as a proper target for their presumptuous incipient evil; they simply cannot leave well enough alone can they.Well, Marx did give them murderous advice on Jews.
ReplyDeleteRay, that's interesting about gays in the IDF, but the timing of their decision appears to track almost perfectly with Bill Clinton's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Of course, these days the idea that gays would be allowed to serve, but would be expected to be discreet about their sexuality, seems awfully quaint. We can't go five minutes now without celebrating the excellence of our gayest warriors, although their reluctance (in far too many cases) to have their genitals surgically scrambled does call into question their courage and their ideological purity.
ReplyDeleteRay, as you point out, the fissures in the "Jewish community" (defined by religion, or ethnicity, or race, or...something) are historically very important, and it's ironic that few had much interest in Palestine before the British breathed life into Herzl's dream. As I understand it, though, even Herzl was willing to settle for Uganda instead of modern Israel. Israel as it now exists was, of course, only possible because masses of Arabs were, in essence, ethnically cleansed, and that process is ongoing. Hard to romanticize THAT, although many have tried.
Does Israel face real danger from Iran? Not, in my opinion, until Iran acquires nukes, but even then Iran could only attack Israel if it was prepared to commit national suicide. Theoretically, Israel faces real dangers of infiltration, but they've done a magnificant job of locking themselves down and keeping the peace, even though Israel is home to a huge (and mostly disaffected) Arab population.
Ray, I agree that many conservative Christians have been duped, both by the Israeli government and pastors who amount to "fellow travelers". The Israeli regime doesn't actually respect or endorse the millennial belief systems of many born-again Christians, but it will make use of them to build support for Israel's "national security", which, for decades, has included an essentially imperialist project of taking over land in Gaza and the West Bank peopled with Arabs who are being steadily displaced. I don't begrudge Israel the right to seek its own preservation, or even expansion, but I do question whether supporting Israel in its multi-generational grudge match with Islam has redounded to America's benefit. You're right, Ray: Truman got us in a real mess! Thankfully, things have cooled down a lot since the 70s, and most Arabs have accepted Israel's existence and learned to live with it. Luckily for Israel, the Arabs have always proved incapable of uniting against them, and for that they may have us to thank.