By Einat Korman

The beginning of the New Year is a good opportunity to ask for forgiveness, but equally important is to take it upon ourselves to improve the future.

This past year was characterized by political instability in Israel, especially in its second half. It seemed that all that the news reporters were interested in were the elections, the debasements, the results and the uncertainties. But truth be told, the instability began much earlier.

The instability began with the unprecedented attacks on the Israeli communities near Gaza, attacks which are directed against Israel as a whole. The lack of proper response on the part of Israel not only towards the terrorists but especially towards the residents who absorb the fire for the rest of us on a daily basis resulted in much uncertainty about the future. The State of Israel had to add to its budget and restore the damages incurred to the area’s agriculture, education and health at record speed. However, too little of that was done, and for that we must atone.

The government’s failure to properly deal with the illegal immigrants from Africa, especially from the Sudan and Eritrea, also requires asking forgiveness from the residents of Southern Tel Aviv and other cities. The unenforced law, the unnecessary strikes by law enforcement agencies that resulted in a very poor presence in the affected neighborhoods, the personal security that was compromised, the drop in quality of life, the widespread concern for human rights of only one side of the political spectrum and especially the fact that when the government finally decided to do something and send the illegal infiltrators to a third country, and this was stymied by the judicial system - this too has to be atoned for.

And we haven’t even mentioned the hotel-like conditions for terrorists being held in Israel, whether in prisons or hospitals, the human rights that are suddenly very important to protect, the assistance they receive from Knesset Members, the lax policies of the courts in prosecuting them, the fact that no matter how heinous the crime, the terrorists know that they will not be subject to the death penalty, and the growing trend of treating terrorists as ordinary criminals in law enforcement rather than terrorists who demand stricter policies. For these we must definitely atone.

For residents of Judea and Samaria, who are under the authority of the Civil Administration, the instability that they experience is no better, and between us - it is usually worse than for residents of other parts of Israel. When Israeli citizens of the area do not know which law applies to them simply because publication of the law is not publicly accessible, or when they wait years and years for basic laws passed by the Knesset, for example, women’s labor laws or environmental laws, to be drafted as Military Orders. There are many ways to apply laws passed by the Knesset clearly and immediately to the citizens of Israel, residents of Judea and Samaria. But all we heard in the past year was an election statement on the annexation of the Jordan Valley. The default that has been going on for more than fifty years should be lamented and atoned for as soon as possible.

Much of the blame for the above mentioned problems, and those who need to ask for more forgiveness than anyone else, are the heads of the justice system. When the state is running today according to their decisions, and the results are the ones we have experienced to date, they certainly have a special responsibility. This responsibility includes the proper and transparent management of the system, implementation of Commissioner Rosen’s recommendations that criticize the way the state is represented in court, the improvement of the Office of the State Attorney, tighter supervision of judges, and more.

In addition to structural changes, the role played by the judicial system in a democratic state must be examined. Legal counseling is important, and laws are crucial to the functioning of any society. The judicial puts legislators to an important daily test, but the situation should not permit legal advice to override the policy of elected members of the government, and to castigate any attempt to enable normal life in Israel for the residents who live near Gaza, residents of Southern Tel Aviv, of the victims of terrorism, the residents of the Judea and Samaria and the rest of us.

We, at the Legal Forum, mark fifteen years of legal activity designed to correct the distorted, and restore the balanced forces in a democratic system. Perhaps this is what will atone for us in the year to come.

To read full article in Hebrew click here.