This week Ayman Odeh praised the release of the "Palestinian prisoners" (arch-terrorists with a lot of Jewish blood on their hands) as part of the deal, and ignited the painful issue of the progressive left in the High Court of Justice continuing to grant legitimacy for supporters of terrorism to star in the Knesset.
We will take a short dive into what's new on the subject, and for those who are already familiar with the details, it is recommended not to miss section D.
A. Anti-Israeli Supporters of Terrorism Star in Knesset
Section 7a of the Basic Law of the Knesset was enacted and amended three times. The amendment is intended to explicitly disqualify "supporting armed struggle against Israel". The amendment passed by a majority of 77 to 18. Is this a broad enough consensus?
But after the Court, using nonsense arguments, imposed the right of leading Israel haters like Azmi Beshara and later Hanin Zoabi to star in the Knesset, it was amended once again to also include general statements of support for armed struggle against Israel.
These amendments did not arouse strong constitutional disputes among the people of Israel. The large majority of Knesset members relied on them to disqualify lists or MKs who support terrorism before elections. But each time the judges of the High Court found an excuse for a discriminatory application specifically against Jews, and repeatedly raised the bar regarding the disqualification of Arabs who support terrorism.
Initially they demanded "clear and immediate danger". Aharon Barak questioned whether Azmi's support for the enemy was not "clear and unequivocal" enough.
Judges demanded to see many and frequent statements in favor of terrorism. Each time the Knesset amended to clarify its intention to the High Court. Each time the bar climbed to the sky so that it would not be possible to disqualify them.
There has been no more symbolic and blatant case of the gross oppression of Zionism by the Supreme Court judges against Jews in their own country.
And here in these days of a hard war for our existence, the members of the Knesset gathered again to amend the Basic Law again so that it also includes statements that are not "many and frequent", and a few more amendments to close the door on the High Court's excuses to enable supporters of terrorism in the Knesset (an unsuccessful idea in itself, those who want to enable support for armed struggle against Israel will have no difficulty finding plenty of legal excuses…) except that this time protest organizations and parties aligned with the High Court. Banning support for the destruction of Israel has become a right-wing policy in their eyes.
B. The progressive virus – from the High Court to the protest organizations
Actually, I wish it would be "just" a right-wing policy. The protest organizations present the law prohibiting supporters of terrorism from appearing in the Knesset as a law designed to abolish the democratic system of government. How familiar. This is the leading line in the main media channel of the protest organizations, where the jurist Prof. Yaniv Roznai, one of the most prominent voices in the protests of the progressive left, is enlisting tongue twisters to introduce a law to prevent support for terrorism as a law promoting the repeal of the rules of democratic government.
Iran Halperin is another star of the protest organizations, a professor of social psychology in Hebrew University. He specializes in influencing public opinion through campaigns and surveys. Under his influence, the protest against the reform is being leveraged to create in people's minds an inherent connection between the radical political left and democracy. A Jewish nation-state is probably not his greatest joy. In the run up to the renewal of the law to prevent supporters of terrorism from running for the Knesset, he explains that this is (of course) a fundamental violation of the democratic system, the cancellation of the Arab public's right to vote, and he calls for Arab-Jewish cooperation for victory in the elections. The campaigns are already running on social media.
C. The presenters of the progressive movement in the Knesset
From here it is a short hop to the Knesset. Yair Lapid collected the anti-Zionist bullying of the High Court, backed by activist lawyers and psychologists in the service of the protest organizations, and turned it all together into a political scream on the Knesset stage that the Right is canceling the elections.
As usual, Lapid serves as the representative of the progressive left in the Knesset. They dictate the path, and he mobilizes his rhetorical ability to frighten the public.
D. The dragging along of the Zionist left and the "unity projects"
Attorney Reut Finger is a writer at the Manor Center and is leading the outline on Agreement of the Democratic Rules of the Game at the Fourth Quarter movement.
Precisely in this very unpleasant atmosphere, it would have been appropriate to have a project that allows reaching agreed upon rules of the game without delegitimizing such a fundamental Zionist struggle.
Finger is not as extreme as the previous ones I described here. She claims to create essays based on Zionist and Jewish values. What a shame she was completely swept after them. She calls the insistence on preventing supporters of terrorism from appearing in the Knesset "trolling with an ulterior motive to present the left who will oppose the law as supporters of terrorism", and that the purpose of the law is really not to fight terrorism but to "slant the election results". As the icing on the cake she emphasized that the law is offensive and insulting to the Arab MKs…
This is a classic progressive way of thinking: Zionism on the Right is a nothing but a tool to control and oppress and hurt others.
This is conspiratorial and arrogant thinking.
The progressive distortion permeates deeply even to those who identify themselves as center-left liberal Zionists.
And in general, where is the attribution of good intentions that is so prominent in the rules of the "Quarter"?
This is how she looks for broad agreements??
Finger ignores the way in which the High Court of Justice pushed the Right into a corner and cynically forced it to tighten the wording again and again in order to achieve such a basic result, not to allow supporters of terrorism to star in the Knesset. Rather, she praises the High Court as the guardian of Zionism, no less.
Unfortunately, it is not part of the solution, it is part of the problem.
E. The road map
We are in the midst of a very poignant clarification regarding our identity. The progressive left is leading a move towards the polar opposite of a Jewish nation-state in the Land of Israel. The need to stand firm and stand apart from the progressive left wherever it permeates is an existential national need.
Moderate liberals who believe in a Jewish nation state should see the damage caused by the progressive left and separate from it, not be dragged along, and not call a struggle to preserve a Jewish nation state which until recently was a consensus "trolling" and "biasing the elections".
This clarification will regrow us, I'm sure. But we have to face this difficulty with our eyes open without blinking. And unity will come.
