Commentary:
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu recently promised not to repeat the “mistake” of 2005’s expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif and the 4 Shomron Towns. Israel National News reports:
Promising not to surrender communities in Judea and Samaria to the Palestinian Authority, the Prime Minister said there will be no unilateral expulsions.
But one must wonder, for a change, whether Netanyahu speaketh with forked tongue. For Israel National News also reports that his own Justice Minister Yaakov Ne’eman, head of the committee which selects Judges for the High Court, appears to be party to a “deal” to facilitate appointment of a leftist, pro-Expulsion judge to Israel’s Supreme Court:
Rabbi Haim Rettig, who heads the Hesder Yeshiva in Raanana, voiced his opposition on Monday to the nomination of Be’er Sheva District Court Judge Sefi Elon to fill a vacancy on the bench of Israel’s Supreme Court. Elon’s name is being mentioned as part of a deal developing between High Court President Dorit Beinisch and Justice Minister Yaakov Ne’eman, who heads the committee… for selecting the judges, to fill the vacancy for a religious justice.
Interviewed by Arutz 7 in Hebrew, Rabbi Rettig said he did not know the judge personally, but during Israel’s uprooting of Jews from Gaza and northern Samaria in 2005, Judge Elon acted undemocraticly in his handling of people arrested for demonstrating against the process. Citing the case of his own son, the rabbi said the judge did not take a look at the individuals when extending the custody of groups for demonstrating against the Disengagement, and counted the judge among those who cooperated with the government’s eviction program.
Adding further fuel to the fire the so-called “religious” Judge Sefi Elon is Mattot Arim’s Susie Dym who writes urging wide protest against Elon’s possible appointment:
Your Chance to PREVENT Appointment of Radical Left Judges to High Court From: mattot.arim@gmail.com
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:08:39
Subject: Leftwing JudgesIsrael’s High Court is peopled with a huge proportion of radical left judges. This has, for some time, caused many rulings which many felt to be unfair, such as the ruling that suspected Hizbullah spy, MK Azmi Bashara, should continue to get a pension from the Knesset even after he escaped Israel to avoid trial, and such as preventing the forced deportation of family members of terrorists– but refusing to prevent the forced deportation of the 9000 Jews of Gush Katif.
In the next few days i.e. during August, three new judges will be selected by the 9-member Judges’ Selection Committee which includes right-wing representatives Gilad Erdan (Likud minister), David Rotem (Yisrael Beytenu MK) and Uri Ariel (National Union MK). Please write to these gentlemen to ask them to BLOCK the appointment of leftwing judicial candidate Sefi (Yosef) Elon.
Mr. Elon is being mis-represented as a right-wing candidate because two of his BROTHERS are both National Religious and right-wing (Benny Elon and Rabbi Moti Elon). However, his brothers are not the candidates. Sefi Elon himself is the candidate, and he is left-wing both in his outlook and in his previous judicial behavior in his temporary appointment as judge.
For example, Sefi Elon agreed to authorize the arrest of Kfar Darom (Gush Katif) demonstrators who were brought into his court-room 60 at a time! Some of these demonstrators were said by reporters to look younger than 12 years of age, but Sefi Elon did not insist on reviewing the proposed arrests individually or in small groups and certainly did not wonder why these demonstrators were being arrested at all.
In another case, police officer Niso Shacham wasÖ² caught red-handed on tape, specifically ordering police to be brutal toward settlers: “They are sh–, let them burn,Ö² don’t hesitate, use clubs and hit them on their lower body parts”. Ö² The police wanted to give Shacham a promotion. A right-wing legal rights group appealed to the Supreme Court. Sefi Elon was the judge who rejected their appeal, exclaiming prissily that Ö² “It is our duty to be forgiving to he who errs”.
There is absolutely no reason to tolerate Sefi Elon’s presence in the court any longer. This is why the right-wing candidates were elected to the Judges’ Selection Committee to begin with. And the rules are that each judge needs 7 supporters out of the 9. So, if the 3 right-wing members of the CommitteeÖ² stick together as a group, Sefi ElonÖ² simply cannot become a judge, and neither can other better known, radical left judges like Uzi Fogelman.
So, please write to the 3 men and urge them: WORK TOGETHER TO KEEP RADICAL LEFT JUDGES LIKE SEFI ELON AND FOGELMAN OUT OF OUR COURTS!
Feel free to write Rotem, Erdan and Ariel a longer and more personal email if you wish!!
Their email addresses (plus a 4th address which is ours — Mattot Arim — we would like a copy) are:
drotem@knesset.gov.il, gerdan@knesset.gov.il, uria@knesset.gov.il, mattot.arim@gmail.com
Thank you for your help. Israel’s high courts have a high interference rate in governmental doings, so every email that may help in removing left-wing judicial candidates from serious consideration is extremely helpful to Israel’s future.
Can we, the Jewish people, any longer tolerate Chilul Hashem and the rest of the world laughing contemptuously at a hypocritical Israel lacking any credibility or Jewish moral fiber. “Tzedek, Tzedek, Teirdof!! : Justice, Justice You will pursue!” B’Ezrat Hashem, these proposed appointments won’t see light of day! (MB)