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The Jewish Press

(Founded in 1920)

Margie Gutnik

President

Annette van de Kamp-Wright

Editor

Richard Busse

Creative Director

Lori Kooper-Schwarz

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Gabby Blair

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Sam Kricsfeld

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Mary Bachteler

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Jewish Press Board

Margie Gutnik, President; Abigail Kutler, Ex-Officio; Seth Feldman; David Finkelstein; Ally Freeman; Mary Sue Grossman; Les Kay; Natasha Kraft; Chuck Lucoff; David Phillips; and Joseph Pinson. The mission of the Jewish Federation of Omaha is to build and sustain a strong and vibrant Omaha Jewish Community and to support Jews in Israel and around the world. Agencies of the JFO are: Institute for Holocaust Education, Jewish Community Relations Council, Jewish Community Center, Jewish Social Services and the Jewish Press. Guidelines and highlights of the Jewish Press, including front page stories and announcements, can be found online at: www.jewishomaha.org; click on ‘Jewish Press.’ Editorials express the view of the writer and are not necessarily representative of the views of the Jewish Press Board of Directors, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Board of Directors, or the Omaha Jewish community as a whole. The Jewish Press reserves the right to edit signed letters and articles for space and content. The Jewish Press is not responsible for the Kashrut of any product or establishment.

Editorial

The Jewish Press is an agency of the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Deadline for copy, ads and photos is: Thursday, 9 a.m., eight days prior to publication. E-mail editorial material and photos to: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org; send ads (in TIF or PDF format) to: rbusse@jewishomaha.org.

Letters to the Editor Guidelines

The Jewish Press welcomes Letters to the Editor. They may be sent via regular mail to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154; via fax: 1.402.334.5422 or via e-mail to the Editor at: avandekamp@jewishomaha.org. Letters should be no longer than 250 words and must be single-spaced typed, not hand-written. Published letters should be confined to opinions and comments on articles or events. News items should not be submitted and printed as a “Letter to the Editor.” The Editor may edit letters for content and space restrictions. Letters may be published without giving an opposing view. Information shall be verified before printing. All letters must be signed by the writer. The Jewish Press will not publish letters that appear to be part of an organized campaign, nor letters copied from the Internet. No letters should be published from candidates running for office, but others may write on their behalf. Letters of thanks should be confined to commending an institution for a program, project or event, rather than personally thanking paid staff, unless the writer chooses to turn the “Letter to the Editor” into a paid personal ad or a news article about the event, project or program which the professional staff supervised. For information, contact Annette van de Kamp-Wright, Jewish Press Editor, 402.334.6450.

Postal

The Jewish Press (USPS 275620) is published weekly (except for the first week of January and July) on Friday for $40 per calendar year U.S.; $80 foreign, by the Jewish Federation of Omaha. Phone: 402.334.6448; FAX: 402.334.5422. Periodical postage paid at Omaha, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Jewish Press, 333 So. 132 St., Omaha, NE 68154-2198 or email to: jpress@jewishomaha.org.

Our biggest privilege

ANNETTE VAN DE KAMP-WRIGHT

Jewish Press Editor

During a professional training the other day, the question was asked: ‘What’s your Why?’ It’s a really great question, and it’s been living in my head rentfree ever since. Why do we do what we do? Why are we here, why do we show up, and why do we give so much to sustain this Jewish community of ours? I’ll share my Why, and then you can take it from there and think about yours. Starting in a new country in one’s 20s, as I was, is risky for a number of reasons. Most differences you adapt to over time (the food, the language, the traffic) and even typical Nebraska things like the need for small talk can be learned. What is not so easy is building friendships. You leave behind friends you’ve had for many years, the kind that have known you since the first day of Kindergarten. The ones who stuck by you through the awkward teenage years, who picked you up and dusted you off after some serious college parties and who know you almost as well as you know yourself. They cannot be replaced, and I’m sure anyone who changes locations at the age I did has that same experience. Making new friends as an adult—it’s not easy. During my first years, and my first jobs, I continued to feel like the proverbial square peg. And then I found this community—or maybe this community found me. And before I knew it, I gained a large number of friends. I cannot always say where my job ends and my private life begins. There is definite overlap between work and home, not because I can’t shut my professional brain off, but because of the people who populate both. Because I get to work for a community I believe in, I am surrounded by others who feel the same. This is more than a job, and the Jewish Federation of Omaha is more than a work place. It’s Home. Just like our synagogues are more than buildings, our JCC houses community, familiarity, a sense of belonging. My kids went to the ELC and to Friedel and summer camp, did theater, worked and played here- just like yours. Calling the Jewish Community of Omaha home and helping sustain it is our biggest privilege. That means we support the synagogues, the schools, Chabad, and yes, the Jewish Federation of Omaha Annual Campaign. Because it is not enough to feel grateful, we have to actively help build it. So that’s my why. It’s why I’ve been doing this job for a while and why I hope to keep doing it. It’s why I give to the campaign, not begrudgingly, but happily. I make my pledge with a very real understanding of what that pledge helps us do. I hope you feel the same. The 2023 Annual Campaign is coming to an end soon. If you’re like me, and you’ve pledged already, I thank you. We thank you. The Jewish Press is among the many places your dollars support, and we can’t do any of this without your support. If you have not yet made your pledge, please join me and do so today. Don’t waiver, and don’t wait. You too are part of this community, and this community is worth it. You are worth it.

Israeli democracy may not survive a ‘reform’ of its Supreme Court

ALEX LEDERMAN

JTA On Dec. 29, Israel swore in Benjamin Netanyahu’s sixth government. The Likud leader became Israel’s prime minister once more, and one week later, Israel’s long-anticipated judicial counterrevolution began. Newly minted Justice Minister and Netanyahu confidant, Yariv Levin, unveiled a package of proposed legislation that would alter the balance of power between Israel’s legislature and its Supreme Court. At the core of this plan is a bill to allow the Knesset to override the Supreme Court. Levin’s proposals — which almost certainly have the immediate support of a Knesset majority, regardless of Levin’s assurances that they would be subject to “thorough debate” — would pave the way for Israel’s new government to pass legislation that curtails rights and undermines the rule of law, dealing a blow to Israeli democracy. The dire implications of this proposed judicial reform are rooted in key characteristics of the Israeli political system that set it apart from other liberal democracies. Israel has no constitution to determine the balance of power between its various branches of government. In fact, there is no separation between Israel’s executive and legislative branches, given that the government automatically controls a majority in the parliament. Instead, it has a series of basic laws enacted piecemeal over the course of the state’s history that have a quasi-constitutional status, with the initial intention that they would eventually constitute a de jure constitution. Through the 1980s, the Knesset passed basic laws that primarily served to define state institutions, such as the country’s legislature and electoral system, capital and military. In the 1990s, there was a paradigm shift with the passage of two basic laws that for the first time concerned individuals’ rights rather than institutions, one on Human Dignity and Liberty (1992) and the other on Freedom of Occupation (1994). These laws enshrined rights to freedom of movement, personal freedom, human dignity and others to all who reside in Israel. Aharon Barak, the president of Israel’s Supreme Court from 1995 to 2006, argued that these laws constituted a de facto bill of rights, empowering the court to review Knesset legislation and to strike down laws that violate civil liberties, a responsibility not explicitly bestowed upon the court in the basic law pertaining to the judiciary. In 1995, the Supreme Court officially ruled that it could indeed repeal legislation that violates the country’s basic laws, heralding an era of increased judicial activism in Israel in what became known as the “judicial revolution.” The court has struck down 20 laws since, a fairly modest number compared to other democracies. The judicial revolution of the 1990s shifted the balance of power in Israel’s political system from one of parliamentary sovereignty, in which the Knesset enjoyed ultimate power, to one in which the legislature is restricted from violating the country’s (incomplete) constitution. Israel’s Supreme Court became a check on the legislative branch in a country that lacks other checks and balances and separations of power. As a result of these characteristics, the Supreme Court currently serves as one of the only checks on the extraordinary power of Israel’s 120-member Knesset — which is why shifting that balance of power would have such a dramatic impact on Israel’s democracy. Levin’s proposed judicial overhaul includes forbidding the Supreme Court from deliberating on and striking down basic laws themselves. It would require an unspecified “special majority” of the court to strike down legislation, raising the threshold from where it currently stands. Levin has also called for altering the composition of the selection committee that appoints top judges to give the government, rather than legal professionals, a majority on the panel. It would allow cabinet ministers to appoint legal advisors to act on their behalf, rather than that of the justice ministry, canceling these advisors’ role as safeguards against government overreach. Should a minister enact a decision that contravenes a basic law, the ministry’s legal advisor would no longer report the violation to the attorney general, and would instead merely offer non-binding legal advice to the minister. The pièce de résistance is, of course, the override clause that would allow the Knesset to reinstate laws struck down by the Supreme Court by 61 members of Knesset, a simple majority assuming all members are present. The sole restriction on this override would be a provision preventing the Knesset from re-legislating laws struck down unanimously, by all

15 judges, within the same Knesset term. This plan’s obvious and most immediate result would be the effective annulment of the quasi-constitutional status of Israel’s basic laws. If the Knesset’s power to legislate is no longer bound by basic laws, these de facto constitutional amendments no longer have any teeth. There are no guardrails preventing any

A group of visitors get a tour of the Supreme Court in

Jerusalem, on June 14, 2017. Credit: Hadas Parush/Flash90 Knesset majority from doing as it wishes, including violating basic human rights. Most crucially, the Knesset that would once again enjoy full parliamentary sovereignty in 2022 is not the Knesset of Israel’s first four decades. Shackling the Supreme Court is essential to the agendas of the new government’s various ultraright and ultra-religious parties. For example, the haredi Orthodox parties are eager to re-legislate a blanket exemption to the military draft for their community, which the court struck down in 2017 on the grounds that it was discriminatory. They also have their sights on revoking recognition of non-Orthodox conversions for immigrants to Israel, undoing a court decision from 2021. The far-right, Jewish supremacist parties of Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, meanwhile, see an opportunity to deal a decisive blow to an institution that has long served as a check on the settlement movement. They hope to tie the court’s hands in the face of oncoming legislation to retroactively legalize settlements built on private Palestinian land, which are illegal under Israeli law. But this is only the beginning: Neutering the authority of the court could pave the way for legal discrimination against Israel’s Arab minority, such as Ben-Gvir’s proposal to deport minorities who show insufficient loyalty. The timing of Levin’s announcement could not be more germane. The Knesset recently amended the basic law to legalize the appointment of Aryeh Deri,

See Israeli democracy page 9

DAVID BERGER

My grandfather was a prisoner in Auschwitz for three and a half years. Six million Jews, including more than half of his family and countless friends were murdered by the Nazis in Germany just over 75 years ago. I grew up hearing about my grandfather’s survival stories, bravery, and persistence. Jews have always been globally persecuted, and too frequently, Jews are in imminent danger, solely due to their religion. Despite all our nation has been through, anti semitism and hate crimes against us are still at large, and it is our generation’s turn to take action. A substantial factor contributing to the establishment of Israel was the Holocaust. Additionally, if not for our ancestor’s tenacity and willpower to push through and survive Hitler’s regime, keeping faith towards a brighter, religiously independent Jewish future, Israel would not have survived and flourished. They reclaimed our homeland finally giving the Jewish people an army and a safe haven to resort to. The Israeli Defense Force has risen to be one of the most powerful militaries in the world, thus keeping Jews around the world safe. Before the establishment of Israel, Jews were scattered all throughout Europe. They had no homeland to run to, or an army to defend them. All Hitler needed was to begin scapegoating them and to send his already hate ridden army on its way to “make Germany great again.” Today, the majority of American Jews feel safe living in America. However, a key element resulting in the freedom we have to exercise our religion and live without fear is a result of the young men and women putting their lives on the line in Israel. Israelis are closest to danger; all the surrounding countries want to wipe out the Jewish people. Nonetheless, they continue to live and fight for the worldwide freedom of Jews. It is not right that us American Jews enjoy the benefits of America whilst our own people put their lives on the line in Israel. The only difference between American and Israeli Jews is that we, Americans by chance, were born 6000 miles away from Israel. Otherwise, we would be required to draft into the IDF. We are the same united people just born in different places. Anything you can contribute to the IDF is helpful, and frankly, needed. Israeli Jews have served since the existence of Israel and it is now our turn, as American Jews, to step up. All a lone soldier - a soldier whose parents reside in the diaspora - is required to serve is for one and a half years. It is a chance to be someone's hero. A chance to take a stand to protect your people, your family. It is an opportunity to help keep our brothers and sisters in Israel safe. Just take a look at what Israelis deal with again and again and have to read on the news time and time again. “Senior Islamic Jihad official: We will bomb the center of Israel.” “Three people killed in ax attack in Israel, extending wave of violence.” These headlines are nothing new for the citizens of Israel. We are watching history repeat itself. As a result of the Holocaust, one of the largest genocides in the history of the Jewish people, there has been a silent period of anti-semitic and antiZionist violence and hate crimes. However, the past 77 years have also been a silent buildup of hate and tension. They say history does not, exactly, repeat itself, but it does rhyme. The hate is now making loud appearances in forms of dangerous, violent acts, and statements towards the Jewish people all over the world. Jews, please join me, and do your part in memory of those we have tragically lost and for our future. Regarding America, with the rise of antisemitism, joining the IDF will, in the long run, help improve conditions for American Jews. The link between safety, Israel, and the Jewish people is inextricable. Out of the steps we can take, the greatest action of contribution is to join the Israeli military service. No matter how big the job is, it is a necessary factor in an effort to secure a dependable, safe, and thriving future for Israel and Jewish people worldwide. It doesn't matter where you live; since we are Jewish, it is crucial we each do our part. The Israeli army has endured wars since the establishment of Israel that logically, should not have been won, and now, we must never lose Israel again. When the Yom Kippur war broke out, my cousin was on the first El-Al flight to Israel to go serve and help take part in whatever he could. I too will be enlisting in the Israeli Defense Force when I turn eighteen years old. I encourage everyone to take part in the IDF regardless of where you live or how religious you are. Everyone can contribute and everyone makes a significant difference. My grandfather maintained a brave attitude amongst death to the left and right of him in the camps and took part in keeping the Jewish nation alive. It is now our turn to be brave and take action to ensure a safe and persisting future for the Jewish nation. Never again will we not have a homeland. Never again will we be helpless. Never again will we be pushed around. Never again will we be herded like sheep to gas chambers. Never again will we face extermination. Never again.

The author of this opinion piece, David Berger, is sixteen years old, and lives in Riverdale, New York. He is a junior at The Frisch School and has written for his school’s Israel Journal Newspaper. Aside from hobbies including music and psychology, his greatest passion is sharing his perspective and enthusiasm on why he believes all Jews, American Jews specifically, should enlist in the Israel Defense Force. Coming from a family of Holocaust survivors, the idea of “never again,” was ingrained in David’s psyche and became his conviction.

Israeli democracy

Continued from page 8

the Shas party leader who is serving a suspended sentence for tax fraud, as a minister in the new government. The Supreme Court convened in the morning to hear petitions against his appointment from those arguing that it is “unreasonable” to rehabilitate Deri given his multiple criminal convictions, a view shared by Israel’s attorney general. The Israeli right has long chafed at the power of the Supreme Court, which it accuses of having a left-wing bias. But a judicial overhaul like this has never enjoyed the full support of the government, nor was Netanyahu previously in favor of it. Now, with a uniformly right-wing government and Netanyahu on trial for corruption, the prime minister’s foremost interest is appeasing his political partners and securing their support for future legislation to shield him from prosecution. In a system where the majority rules, there need to be mechanisms in place to protect the rights of minorities — political, ethnic and religious. Liberal democracy requires respect for the rule of law and human rights. Yariv Levin’s proposals to fully subordinate the Supreme Court to the Knesset will concentrate virtually unchecked power in the hands of a few individuals.

Alex Lederman is a policy and communications associate at Israel Policy Forum.

2023 HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS

HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS AND PARENTS

We will be publishing our annual High School Graduation Class pages on May 26, 2023. To be included, fill out the form below or send us an email with the student’s name, parents names, high school they are attending, the college they will be attending and photo to: jpress@jewishomaha.org by May 9, 2023.

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