Last Tuesday, Israel’s Supreme Court heard the opening arguments concerning an amendment to the Basic Law governing the court’s own function, passed by the Knesset on July 24. The Basic Laws function in the lieu of a constitution, as the Jewish state does not have one. According to the amendment, the court may no longer countermand the government’s decisions on the grounds that they lack reasonableness; the petitioners hold that this amendment is itself unconstitutional, and the High Court should strike it down. Herewith, an excerpt from the government’s brief stating its case before the court. (Translation by Mida.)

The Government of Israel contends that, the state of Israel being a democracy, the source and authority of all government agencies is the sovereign—meaning the people, the citizens of Israel. Israeli citizens are represented in the Knesset, in a manner established in Basic and regular laws, thus authority and its source are derived from the rules established by the Knesset—the Basic Laws—and none supersedes them.

The Government of Israel contends that as Israel abides by the rule of law, no person or body stands above the law. And should the law be subject to Basic Laws, as per the doctrine developed by this esteemed court, then no man or body stands above the Basic Laws. . . .

The petitioners ask the esteemed court to deviate from preeminent foundational precepts, premises widely accepted up until recently. It has always been obvious that in a system of law, judges are subject to the law as established by someone other than the judges, to whom they must defer. Judges are not masters of themselves, nor are they masters of the law; their actions are circumscribed by the law and the Basic Law; just as are the other government bodies. At times, if the letter of the law is clear they cannot give succor. Their politics or values cannot supersede a clear law or find their way into its language.

The creator of laws is the legislature. It is it that must aspire to just laws. However, modern democracies are not content to trust the legislature. Many of them create mechanisms that check and balance the governing power, including the legislative authority, in order to prevent a slide into harmful and unjustified government use of power. The courts review the actions of the legislative and executive branches of government. However, in their turn, the courts do so within the bounds of the authority invested in them, the source of which is also of the sovereign’s direction through its representatives.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.