Israel Matzav

Knesset member Ariel sues Brinks to prevent cash transfer to Hamas

In a last ditch effort to prevent NIS 175 million from being transferred to Hamas in Gaza, Knesset Member Uri Ariel (National Union) filed an appeal against the Brinks armored car company directly to the 'Supreme Court' sitting as a 'High Court of Justice' this morning.

Member of Knesset Uri Ariel (Ichud Leumi - National Union) filed a complaint with the police Friday morning against the Brinks armored car company for delivering 175 million shekels in cash to pay salaries of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza. MK Ariel based his complaint on Israeli law prohibiting the funding of terror groups.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert approved the regularly-scheduled transfer on Thursday evening, over the objection of Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who expressed concern that the money will fall into the hands of Hamas.

My guess is that the court will decline to interfere in the transfer. When confronted with appeals from the right, the court suddenly remembers that there are concepts called "justiciability" and "standing." Here's a simplified explanation of how the court chooses cases.

The Supreme Court is very selective in its enforcement of rights and very biased in favor of its own world view. Many - maybe even most - people who disagree with the court's secular humanist, leftist view (which, as I have explained in the past, is self-perpetuating through the judicial selection process and all-encompassing by the abandonment of the concepts of standing and justiciability), don't feel the court gives them a fair shake. The largest demonstration in this country's history was not for or against the 'peace process' but against the 'Supreme Court' and it took place in Jerusalem in 1999 when Binyamin Netanyahu was in power and the left claimed there was no 'peace process.' The court has stepped into many vacuums created by the Knesset's inability to act and the Prime Ministers' (note that's plural) ineptitude, and the corrupt politicians are more than willing to have the court - which is unelected and whose members face nothing but retirement - face the heat on matters on which they are unwilling to do so. There is no balance of powers in Israel. The legislative and executive powers have largely been abrogated to the court and to world opinion.

Nice try Uri, but I'm sure you know it won't work.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:28 AM