Ayelet Shaked
Ayelet Shakedצילום: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked responded Monday to a special holiday Knesset session initiated by the opposition under the theme "Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked's attack on the High Court and the danger to democracy."

Shaked ridiculed the claims of the left and stated that senior left-wing officials hypocritically show contempt for the court when it issues rulings that do not conform to their worldview.

"At the very first moment [I was first informed of the session], I admit that I responded from the gut," Shaked said. "I said to myself that this is another link in the endless chain of attempts on the part of the left to silence me, because we are accustomed to their methods: 'attack,' 'incitement,' 'danger to democracy' - the usual elements of the same tiresome show the left has been playing for years to empty halls. Time after time, the left is trying to convince the public that, in fact, the elected officials elected by the majority have no legitimacy. We have no choice. [The reality] is that the people choose us again and again, but from here to the right to express clear positions - the road is long. The one chosen by a large majority does not say, at least in terms of the left, that we are allowed to speak."

"But then," she continued, "perhaps I am influenced by the atmosphere of the High Holy Days and the fact that we are in the middle of the Ten Days of Repentance between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, I have another thought: Maybe the Left is right, maybe despite the fact that I always make a point of presenting my positions in principle and respectfully - always on the merits of the case and not in personal attacks - perhaps I still have something to learn about my way of phrasing things. The status of the Supreme Court is precious to all of us, and its judicial independence is an established foundation. If there is a way in which I can improve, even in a certain way, my manner of phrasing when I criticize his ruling, I must follow it."

"Therefore, I decided to improve my style of phrasing when it comes to criticism of Supreme Court rulings, and I immediately asked myself: Who can be the best teachers for me? Who are the ones from whom I can learn the courtesy and mannerisms I seem to lack," she said.

"I have come to a clear conclusion: My friends from the left, after years of blaming me for being impolite, you are probably the ultimate mentors of the field of manners and manners, and it seems that the precise system of rules that delineates the boundaries of legitimate discourse is held by you. To express myself and to whom, a woman of no manners, like me, must stick to your ways and only learn from you, and learn and learn.

"I was ashamed to contact you directly, so I told myself that I would look for a few easy examples of cases where you are less than pleased with a ruling that came out of the court, and so I can learn from you how to express criticism in a legitimate manner. After years of silence on your part to anyone who thinks differently from you - you have certainly developed your own theory of a legitimate formulation of criticism of judicial decisions."

Shaked then recalled the criticisms of Supreme Court decisions by left-wing politicians and activists, including the Supreme Court's ruling on the illegal Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar and after the Jerusalem District Court's ruling that applied the market regulation to Mitzpeh Kremim. "I realized that this is exactly where I should focus," she said. "I will examine the level of politeness that characterized the responses of the leftist camp to these rulings, and after the response I gathered and examined how the leaders of the leftist camp respond in the event of a disagreement with the judiciary, and all of course to learn for myself how to formulate myself in the future."

“MK Mossy Raz of Meretz said the Supreme Court was becoming a branch of the Settlers Council,” Shaked said. “Meretz MK Michal Rozin called the court a destructive ideological shofar. It’s not fair that [Bayit Yehudi MK] Moti Yogev’s statement about wanting a D9 to crush the court is constantly recalled. Shame on you. You want a Supreme Court that is on its knees.”

"I call on all the polite people from this side of the courtroom: defend him. Defend this. Defend all these delusional statements, and we have gathered here to discuss how we should relate, and in the way we should be phrased, when we criticize the court. Do you want to condemn or do you accept this offensive style?

"You guys have never been followers of the court and certainly you are not an example, not of manners or of politeness. You do not really want an independent, strong and upright court. As long as it is aligned with you, he is the source of justice, but the second it offers a slightly different interpretation, you are ready to burn it down," she accused.

According to Shaked, "In the morning, over the years, you looked at the institution that you asked to see as your legal mirror and asked him: Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the most right in the city, and the legal mirror always responded generously, gracefully and happily to you? You're right. You are so right that there is no more justice in a world that might equal your absolute justice. And you were happy."

"But something has changed in recent years, and the times have changed, and with them, sitting in the bureaus of the judges, and new and fresh perceptions have succeeded in penetrating into the Hall of Justice/ Our democracy is not being destroyed. It is getting better, It is vibrant and it is wonderful. The nation is finally able to bring itself into expression within the framework of justice systems.

"But you're on the left-you're analog types in a digital world, you keep asking the mirror the same questions, and you do not understand what happened when you started to get different answers from it.

"I understand your anger at not evacuating Jews from their homes, but you have to get together, take yourselves in. We have a state to protect. There is a rule of law to preserve. You cannot accept a situation in which your criticism of the courts deteriorates into the areas you have recently moved to.

"As the justice minister, I call on the residents of the Knesset on the left and on the right - maintain a respectful discourse, we have no other legal system, and of course we can criticize the rulings. I do this from time to time, but you have to maintain fairness and a respectful discourse."