Rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburgh, the leader of the Derech Chaim organization that placed a golden statue of Supreme Court President Miriam Naor last week in front of the Supreme Court building, sent a letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu in light of the prime minister’s response to the placing of the statue.
Last week, Derech Chaim had explained that it had placed the statue because "The Supreme Court and its 'enlightened' president are cut off from the people. Although the State of Israel is ostensibly a democratic state, today the government is in the hands of the Supreme Court, with no one asking the public's opinion on issues. The Supreme Court intervenes time after time in the decisions of elected officials: This week the Infiltrators Law, next time it will be the Regulation Law and other laws."
"As in any dictatorship, we thought that in Israel, too, it is fitting that a statue of the ruler should stand in the city square.
"It is time for public officials to wake up: We call upon the Prime Minister, ministers, and Knesset members, who expressed their opposition to the disqualification of the [infiltrator] law, to strive once and for all for a holistic procedure to balance relations between the Supreme Court and the Knesset instead of promulgating promises and local solutions to problems arising from the rule of the Supreme Court," the organization said.
During the prime minister's tour of southern Tel Aviv last week in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s ruling prohibiting the deportation of infiltrators who refuse to leave the country and limiting their arrests to two months, he had referred to the statue placed by Derech Chaim, calling it “inappropriate.”
"If one wants to protest, there are better ways than making some statue, it’s inappropriate,” he had said.
In a letter addressed last Friday to the prime minister, Rabbi Ginsburgh stressed the need to repair Israel’s legal system in accordance with Jewish values.
“To his Honorable Mr. Binyamin Netanyahu,”
“I was happy to hear that, during your visit in southern Tel Aviv you identified with the plight of the residents of the area, while expressing understanding that the factor preventing the amelioration of the situation is the Supreme Court, which imposes its opinion on the Jewish people and prevents significant legislation on the matter of infiltrators (and many other matters).
“We must worry for the peace of our people, both on the physical plane and the spiritual plane,” Rabbi Ginsburgh continued. “A fundamental repair in the leadership of the people entails establishing the legal system on the eternal principles of the Torah of Israel and according to Jewish law.”
“Most of the nation of Israel has faith in G-d and the righteousness of his Torah and, on the basis of this faith, we can act together to turn our state into the Jewish state our nation envisioned in all its years of exile. At least, it must be ensured that the minority doesn’t control the majority, as occurs today.”
The rabbi also called for changes in Israel’s educational system. “Much more must be invested than is currently being invested in the quality of state education, education that values the Torah of Israel, both in terms of intellectual honesty and ethical honesty.”
Rabbi Ginsburgh concluded his letter by relating to the Jewish month of Elul currently underway. “In these days of the month of Elul [...] G-d grants us special strength to repent and mend our ways, not only on the individual level but on the general public level, public repentance for leading the nation in the good and honest way. In the words of the Rambam, 'The Torah already promised that Israel will, in the end, repent at the end of their exile - and be immediately redeemed,' speedily in our days, Amen.”
