| | | | | | | | | | A buildup months in the making came to a head this week in a crowded, but hushed courtroom in Jerusalem as Israel’s Supreme Court convened to begin debating an unprecedented case asking it to nullify a law that would limit its power.
The law in question was the first passed by the Knesset as part of the controversial judicial overhaul plan laid out by Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government. Frances Raday argues the blatant threat by the government that they will not abide by the decision of the Supreme Court on the case would not just constitute contempt of court, but challenge the very foundations of Israel’s democracy.
Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak says that in the event that happens, it will be up to citizens to rise up against an “illegal government.”
Another historic moment was marked this week: thirty years since Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat shook hands on the White House lawn sealing the deal of the Oslo Peace Accords. Ilene Prusher looks back at what it felt like to be reporting that moment, so swept up by the hope and celebrations that she dismissed the warning signs.
Across the sea in the United States, Shane Burley looks at most recent racially motivated mass shooting, this time in Jacksonville, and argues it’s time to stop calling these shooters “lone wolves” and see the larger movement behind them.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas once again made comments minimizing the Holocaust. Menanchem Z. Rosensaft argues this is further proof that other Palestinians would be more honest and reliable interlocutors than a serial Holocaust denier like Abbas.
And Ofer Aderet calls out “the ignorance and brainwashing of parts of the Haredi community and its leadership” as he excoriates ultra-Orthodox lawmaker Israel Eichler for blaming the Zionists for the suffering of Jews in the Holocaust.
And as we approach Rosh Hashana, Rachel Brustein contemplates the price of Jewish life and explains why it's essential that she and her fellow Millennials and Gen Z friends start pitching in to to foot the bill.
Wishing all our readers an especially sweet and healthy New Year. | | |
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