Tens of thousands of people pounded the streets of Israel’s major cities for three months. Facing them: an intractable government in its desire to withdraw power from the Supreme Court of the Jewish State. In a gesture of unity, the government on Monday suspended its judicial reform project, the time of a “break”. The accusations of “fascism” and “traitor” on both sides of the political debate will leave scars, fear many Jewish voices.
On the train that took him to Tel Aviv airport, Yakov Rabkin saw settlers from the occupied territories bursting with energy. “Yalla reformed! [Allez, la réforme ! ] they sang happily. At the same time, in the surrounding streets, thousands of people were waving the flag of Israel, opposing the project, while chanting that “no one is above the law”.
“We quickly understand who is for and who is against,” says Israel M. Rabkin, history professor at the University of Montreal since 1973 and author of the book Understanding the State of Israel. “Israeli society is very fragmented anyway. There, there is a real division that has manifested itself. »
Two camps oppose each other, the liberal side against the conservative side, about a reform of the judicial system wanted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This overhaul of the law would affirm the primacy of elected officials over the courts, notably allowing Parliament to overrule a decision of the Supreme Court by a simple majority.
“The traditional lines of demarcation, secular versus religious, left versus right, etc., are a bit blurred in this case,” observes Yakov Rabkin. “All the same, there is a minority of religious who protest against the reform. There are secularists who support the reform. »
The two camps were on the verge of “civil war” according to Prime Minister Netanyahu, forced to temper everyone’s enthusiasm by announcing a truce on Monday evening, after calls to this effect from all sides.
“When there is a possibility of preventing a civil war through dialogue, as prime minister I pause for dialogue,” Netanyahu proclaimed in a well-attended televised speech. “I give a real chance to a real dialogue [en signe] of my will to prevent the division of the people. »
This declaration threw water on the fire of the opposition. “If the legislation really and completely stops, we are ready to start a real dialogue,” replied Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid shortly after in another televised intervention. “We’ve had bad experiences in the past so we’ll first make sure there’s no trickery or bluffing,” he added nonetheless.
The break also defuses Israel’s main labor union, fired up, which had called for a general strike. ” […] As soon as this press conference is over, the State of Israel stops,” its leader thundered Monday morning before retracting a few hours later.
Canada’s Jews torn apart
This schism in Israeli society has opened up in several Jewish communities around the world. Sarah Mali, Executive Director of Jewish Federations of Canada released a personal statement earlier today. “It is a strange and disorienting day,” she wrote in a message intended among others for the approximately 400,000 Canadian Jews.
“I’m 46 and I don’t remember the feeling of having experienced a snowball effect of such national magnitude, like the one Israel is currently experiencing,” she says. ” […] I am now filled with the distinct unease that I may have been wrong, that this country has been reeling for some time now, and I fear that life will be different here in the days to come. »
” […] There are divisions in the families where we ask how we got here, and there is the unpleasant and terrifying feeling that we do not know the way back, ”she continues.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, added her voice to the chorus of concerns. “You hear people on the streets of Israel,” she said. Canada is “putting pressure” on this government to find “a path supported by the people”.
A country without a constitution
The reform project will pick up again after Passover on April 13. The crux of the problem remains intact, raises Julien Bauer, retired professor of political science at UQAM, expert on the question of law in Israel.
Israel does not have a constitution like other democracies, only basic laws to guide it legally.
He retraces the words of a former judge of the Supreme Court of Israel who had once explained to him the procedure to follow when no fundamental law sheds light on a problem of law. “If there is nothing [dans les lois fondamentales], we look at what is in the general laws in Israel. If there is no source there, we go back to British laws. If there is no source there, we go back to the Ottoman Empire. It goes back a century, even more! If there is still nothing, we look at what is in the great democratic traditions in the world, Great Britain, France or the United States. If there is still nothing — and here I remember word for word what he said — we make the decisions according to our judgments as well-educated men and women in a modern society and we determine the values of Israeli society. »
“My word, he takes himself for Moses”, indignantly the specialist in Israeli sociology.
For Professor Yakov Rabkin, this dialogue “can lead to awareness” on both sides. “Conceptual problems left under the carpet since the establishment of the State of Israel must be resolved. The problems had been sleeping since then, but there they woke up. »