"Without peace between the legislative branch and the
judicial branch, and unless the boundaries are known, either
one is liable to overstep its limits, coercing and lording
over it, and this could cause a prolonged dispute," said MK
Rabbi Avrohom Ravitz during a special meeting of the Knesset
plenum to mark 58 years since the founding of the Knesset.
"Every law that stems from or is based on our source of
existence [as a people] —these are good laws," he said.
"There are laws that are like chaff in the wind and there are
laws that truly are like `a tree planted by streams of
water.'"
During a Knesset Education Committee meeting on the same
topic, MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni said he "sees a threat in the
judicial dictatorship taking over the country, bringing
Knesset members to table a law limiting the [High] Court's
authority." Rabbi Gafni went on to say that he realizes the
bill is problematic, but "it stems from the MKs' feeling of
being suffocated by the total takeover of the judicial system
at its various levels."
Speaking before the plenum, PM Ehud Olmert discussed the
numerous investigations and scandals involving public
officials, including himself. Addressing the judicial
authorities he said, "Don't stop investigating. Don't stop
checking. Don't stop striving to rectify the world we live
in. Do so wholeheartedly, with integrity, with efficiency,
examining every incident and its circumstances, free of any
tainted airs and external attempts to influence you."
The Prime Minister also called on the MKs not to undermine
the High Court, saying "legal institutions and the citadels
of democracy — including the High Court — should
be protected."
He also addressed the issue of a "constitution of Israel,"
saying that within two years the Knesset should "try to
complete the missing chapters in the Constitution of Israel
so that every citizen knows he is fairly protected from every
form of injustice and persecution."
He also said changes should be made in the system of
government, because the current system distances elected
officials from the public.
Opposition and Likud Chairman MK Binyamin Netanyahu called
for a focus on quality rather than quantity when legislating
laws. He also called on Knesset members to be attentive to
what they read outside the Knesset and remain loyal to the
platform every party presented to the voter during the
elections and for which it received its mandate, saying that
when seeking to change or when unable to carry out that
mandate one must go back to the voter and request a new
mandate. "The principle of democracy demands the Knesset
enjoy the public's faith, and without the public's faith the
Knesset loses its moral authority and cannot function."
