Disappointing Israeli Legislation

Yesterday the Israeli Knesset passed a law to shut people up.  By a vote of 47-38, Israelis are no longer permitted to call for a boycott of goods and services that come from West Bank Jewish settlements.

It doesn’t matter how you feel about the settlements because this is not about the settlements.  This is about the basic democratic value of freedom of expression.  Since when does a normative democracy place bans on political activity by its government’s opponents?

According to the law, a person or an organization calling for the boycott of Israel, including the settlements, can be sued by the boycott’s targets without having to prove that they sustained damage. The court will then decide how much compensation is to be paid. The second part of the law says a person or a company that declare a boycott of Israel or the settlements will not be able to bid in government tenders.

MK Nitzan Horowitz from Meretz blasted the law, calling it outrageous and shameful. “We are dealing with a legislation that is an embarrassment to Israeli democracy and makes people around the world wonder if there is actually a democracy here,” he said. Ilan Gilon, another Meretz MK, said the law would further delegitimize Israel.

Maintaining a national character that is both Jewish and democratic is sometimes a difficult balancing act.  This, however, has nothing to do with that struggle.  This is an effort to silence political opposition and it is not worthy of Israel, the only functioning democracy in the region.  It sounds more like legislation from one of her more insane neighbors.

People rightfully laud Israel for its tolerance, freedoms and democracy.  What they often fail to understand is that a great deal of the responsibility for maintaining these comes from its courts.  Now once again the Israeli Supreme Court will be asked to overturn clearly anti-democratic legislation.  Since Israelis can apply immediately to that court for redress, the sooner it happens, the better.