120 professors, including senior academics, signed a petition in support of the judicial reform being advanced by Justice Minister Yariv Levin and chairman of the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee MK Simcha Rothman.
The petition states: “Comprehensive reform of the judicial system is essential due to the constitutional revolution led by Prof. Aharon Barak which upset the balance of powers between Israel’s branches of government.”
“The violation of the balance between the branches and the strengthening of the power of the court was achieved through various means: judicial review of primary legislation and in particular its extension even to Basic Laws; the expansion of the principle of legal standing [allowing anyone to bring a lawsuit even if their own interests are not affected]; the expansion of the doctrine of judicial review, the expansion of the use of the principle of ‘reasonableness;’ the use of a purposive and objective interpretation, and the powerful strengthening of the authority of the Attorney General and the government’s legal advisers. All of these have led to the excessive violation of the balance of powers mentioned above.”
The petition continues by saying that the reform should be achieved through “negotiations and broad agreements as much as possible, but “we must not detract from the essential process of correcting the judicial system, which in recent years has greatly overstepped its limits and encroached on the powers of the other branches of government.”
Among the signatories are Israel Prize winner Israeli-American Prof. Yisrael Aumann, Bar Ilan University Rector Prof. Amnon Albek, former Bar Ilan University Rector Prof. Yossi Yeshurun, Prof. Amos Altshuler, a former member of the Higher Education Council, physicists, mathematicians and professors of computer science from the Weizmann Institute and the Technion, and researchers and professors from the Haifa, Bar Ilan, Hebrew, Tel Aviv, and Ben-Gurion Universities.
The organizers of the petition noted that the list of signatories is only a preliminary one and that in the coming days, many more professors and others are expected to sign.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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3 Responses
Oh, there are logical people in Israel as well, and they even the guts to speak out!
The pictured Prof. Yisrael Aumann is Nobel Prize laureate in economics (game theory) snd a Talmid Chacham
Look up his lectures about Gemora and economics, such as dividing yerusha between 3 widows in Yevamos. He shows how Gemora solution corresponds to equilibrium computed by modern economics.
Anyone interested in Aumann’s work on Yevamos with a basic exposure to mathematics might begin with Stephen Schecter’s “HOW THE TALMUD DIVIDES AN ESTATE AMONG CREDITORS,” which uses Kaminski’s “designer glassware” motif to illustrate the connection between estate division problems and the שנים אוחזין בטלית resolution from Bava Metzia. Aumann & Maschler’s Contested Garment Rule Theorem is really a beautiful piece of gemora exegesis, but in their original article it’s beauty may be hidden from non-specialist readers.