How Kagan’s hearing turned into an Israeli focus

July 4, 2010 - 9:54 AM by · 3 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, education, General, Israeliness, Politics, Profiles, Social Justice 

Why is is that Israelis seem to get involved in virtually every international story, even though Israel seemingly has absolutely nothing to do with it?

For example, the Russian spy case in the US. According to the New York Daily news, one of the suspects, 28-year-old Anna Chapman, was dating a 60-year-old Israeli divorced father living in New Jersey named Michel Bittan.

Or, how about the case of US Supreme Court nominee Elana Kagan? No Israel connection there, right? Except that Kagan is on record four years ago as calling former Israeli head of the Supreme Court Aharon Barak her “judicial hero,” a statement she made as dean of Harvard Law School in 2006 when Barak recevied an award on campus
for his work as a justice.

Now, Republican opponents of Kagan’s nomination are saying that the statement is troubling and according to one legislator, might provide “real insight into her view of the law” if she chooses to emulate Barak’s judicial activism.

American media has begun focusing on the career of the retired Barak. The Christian Science Monitor called the 73-year-old figure as being “internationally renowned for pushing human rights in an insecure democracy, insisting on the primacy of secular jurisprudence despite the veneration of Jewish religious law, and for strengthening the court’s check on the other branches of government. At home, he is regarded as the most influential justice in Israel’s 62-year history and a figure who has revolutionized the high court’s standing.”

But he is also a controversial figure in Israel. Though he is lionized in legal circles, critics say he spearheaded a homogeneous court of secular elites that overstepped its bounds by promoting a universalist legal agenda out of touch with the rest of society.

Barak pushed “the belief that the court can intervene in any issue, including budget, foreign affairs, and security, which is opposite of what existed in the past…. They took powers which were not really in their hands,” says Avraham Diskin, a professor of political science at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who argues that the justice turned Israeli jurisprudence on its head.

“The degree of activism of Barak is such that he ruined the rule of law in Israel. When you go to court, nothing is clear. It’s a gamble.”

During her confirmation hearings last week, Kagan backed up her statement on Barak by saying, “I admire Justice Barak for what he’s done for the State of Israel in ensuring an independent judiciary,”

Republicans see that as a warning signal. In his three decades on the Israeli high court, the Monitor wrote that Barak sought to fill Israel’s constitutional vacuum “by elevating “basic laws” which protect universal values – such as the right of movement, privacy, and property – into a quasi Bill of Rights for Israel that was used to strike down parliamentary laws, annoying lawmakers.”

So here we are, stuck in the middle of an American legal controversy. Just imagine if there were more than seven million Israelis in the world, how much trouble we could get in.

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Should we allow porn in Israeli jails?

February 6, 2009 - 9:09 AM by · 2 Comments
Filed under: Crime, History and Culture, Israeliness, Pop Culture, Religion 

Hannan MeltzerAbout five years ago, Emanuel Peled made headlines when he was convicted of fraudulently billing suckers for phone sex calls they didn’t make. He stole hundreds of thousands of shekels from strangers by threatening to make public these peoples’ love of audio porn, even though in most cases, the victims probably had no such attachments.

Now residing at the Hasharon Prison, Peled is making headlines again, this time for his own proud love of video porn. According to Haaretz….

The Public Defender’s Office says the petition [to the High Court] concerns the right to freedom of expression and consumption of information. The Israel Prison Service (IPS), however, claims that eliminating the ban on pornography could disturb religious inmates and lead to more violence inside prisons.

According to the petition, the prisoner does not have a partner and is therefore not privy to conjugal visits. He argues that being able to access pornography may offer a partial solution to his distress.

Apparently, Peled is notorious for getting the court system bogged down by his various appeals. But in a country where even those who assassinate politicians are allowed to marry people whom they’ve met while serving time, pornography seems like little to ask for.

It all comes down to how we define pornography as a people, and to what extent the evidence against the presence of porn holds water:

Attorney Tal Enar of the Public Defender’s Office claims that the IPS directive banning all pornographic material is disproportionate and illogical. The IPS claim that pornography in prisons will cause violence among inmates is scientifically unfounded, he says, adding that, pornography can instead be used to alleviate tension among sex offenders.

He also pointed out that the High Court rulings on the subject were handed down 25 years ago; since then, society’s attitude toward pornography has changed, he says: Consider, for example, the High Court’s decision to allow the Playboy Channel to broadcast in Israel.

It also comes down to the community of prisoners, which apparently has a high enough “religious” contingent that a porn infiltration might cause unrest among offended offenders. But really, it’s more of a question of philosophy. Of course convicts have rights too, but they’re not exactly put in these facilities to enjoy themselves either – it’s a matter of striking the right balance. The panel ruling on Peled’s plea, which includes Supreme Court Justices Hannan Meltzer (pictured), Elyakim Rubinstein and Dorit Beinisch, is not expected to decide in his favor.

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