Britannia Radio

For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace

and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest." Isaiah 62.

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NILI

Why should this surprise anyone? Israel's Supreme Court under Aaron Barak staged a coup d'etat and on its own asserted that it was the supreme arbitrator of what is law in Israel. Once the precedent was established that you could grab power and keep it, well now anyone with enough guns (physical or political) can do it.

The real problem with Israel's system of government is that there is no system. Everything is ad hoc. It is a patch quilt of laws, institutions and agencies that have been thrown together with no unifying concept other than that a certain group of people should always be in charge no mater what happens. There are no institutional checks and balances and no concept of personal responsibility. Anyone can do whatever they want as long as their boss (the real boss and not necessarily their immediate supervisor) approves.

What comes out of this is that Israel has the Old World system of two political classes. There are those with Royal or Aristocratic rank and there are the peasants. If you are of Royal rank no peasant may contradict you and under certain circumstances you may even maim or kill them. It is your Divine Right.

Think I am exaggerating? Let us see what happens to Mr. Shlomo Moskowitz. Under a democracy in which the rule of law is the operating principle, he would be summarily discharged and indicted for rebellion. No way in Israel. He is an aristocrat and the mere peasants of the Knesset can not interfere with his actions.

Israel's Junta – IDF Overrules Barak in Sansana

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/153120#

The High Planning Council of the IDF Civil Administration has rejected a plan already approved by Israel's civilian leaders

By Gavriel Queenann

First Publish: 2/24/2012, 1:39 PM

Ehud Barak

Israel news photo: Flash 90

The IDF Civil Administration on Thursday took the unprecedented step of rejecting a government plan to normalize the status of the Sansana community in the South Hebron Hills.

In Israel, as in other democracies, military officials are beholden to policy decisions made by civilian officials and are expected to implement their directives in good faith.

The Civil Administration decision that "there is no justification for a new settlement, as [new homes] can be constructed within an existing settlement" comes 12 years after Sansana was established.

In 1997 a Nahal outpost was established at Sansana, but the first homes were not built until 1999. In 2000, the first families moved to Sansana, which currently has 60 families.

In 2009 Defense Minister Ehud Barak approved a plan to for 440 housing units at the Sansana site, including retroactively approving some that already existed.

However, to avoid violating a promise to Washington not to build "new settlements" the plan was presented as "an extension of nearby Eshkolot."

Now, three years after Barak approved the plan, officials in the Civil Administration are overruling their boss, who represents Israel's civilian authority.

Civil Administration planning committee chairman Shlomo Moskowitz wrote "There is no need to 'expand' Eshkolot," arguing there was "plenty of room" for new housing within the communities existing boundaries.

He noted Eshkalot is slated for 347 housing units, of which only 70 have been built. He also argued that Sansana is 7km from Eshkolot and that there was "no justification" not to build in Eshkolot itself.

Most shockingly, he wrote that the IDF Civil Administration planning committee is the only body that can approve building plans in Judea and Samaria, and "does not take dictates from the government."

Critics of Moskowitz's decision say it effectively turns the Civil Administration in a "junta" in Judea and Samaria and violates all democratic mores that inform civil-military relations.

Civilian control of the military is a doctrine in military and political science that places ultimate responsibility for a country's strategic decision-making in the hands of the civilian political leadership, rather than professional military officers.

Widely seen as a prerequisite for a stable democracy, it flows from the rationale that broad strategic decisions, such as the decision to declare a war, start an invasion, end a conflict, or expand settlement in 'disputed territories' have a major impact on the citizens of the country/

As such, civilian control allows the people (through their political representatives) to determine their own course, rather than leaving it in the hands of an elite group of narrowly focused tactical experts.

Observers say Moskowitz's decision will at best complicate – and at worst totally nullify – the stated policy of Israel's sitting elected government to normalize threatened Jewish communities like Sansana.

In the history of the world, no tyranny has ever voluntarily relinquished power or been replaced by peaceful means.

Have a nice day

Aryeh Zelasko :-)

Beit Shemesh