A Comment on Justice and Israeli Democracy
© Rabbi Menachem Creditor
sparked in conversation with Yehuda Kurtzer
Of course, 'justice' is so very complicated, and democracy is, at best, people reaching together towards a just, collective future. I defended (and continue to defend) Israel's right to defend itself militarily. I don't claim to know all of the security information the government has.
I also took public positions supporting Israeli investigations into Israel's conduct during the war, and write critically (as I did recently in reaction to Naftali Bennett's NYTimes Op-Ed and in reaction to the proposed Jewish State bill) when Israeli government officials take positions with which I disagree.
In the case of Israel's High Court invalidating Jewish converts' Jewish status based on their subsequent secular lifestyles, I believe the justices, duly appointed, made an unjust decision. Yes, it was reached through due process. But so was the US Supreme Court's terrible recent decision to gut the Voting Rights Act.
Perhaps this is similar to how some people differentiate between p'shat (exegesis) and drash (eisegesis): 'P'shat is what I say, and drash is what you say,' meaning: I support (and worry about) Israel's democracy, and don't always agree with what it produces.
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