Mocking judicial ‘dictatorship,’ group puts up statue of court president

Protesting what they say is the High Court’s dictatorship, an organization erected a gold statue of its president. 

Members of a right-wing religious group in Israel have erected a golden statue of the Supreme Court’s president to protest the court’s legal “dictatorship.”

Police on Thursday removed the statue of the Supreme Court’s president Miriam Naor, put up outside the court overnight, and questioned individuals suspected of involvement, but said no criminal activity was suspected.

A similar statue of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu erected by left-wing activists in Tel Aviv in December did not prompt similar police action.

The statue was reportedly created by high school students.

A member of the organization, Derech Chaim (Way of Life), which advocates Jewish religious law in Israel, told Israel’s Channel 10 that the statue was a protest against the court becoming “the ruler of the state.”

This act of protest came on the heels of several Supreme Court rulings which many Israelis view as controversial and possibly anti-democratic, including the latest which held that Israel may not incarcerate illegal African migrants for more than 60 days in a bid to pressure them to leave, but could expel them to a third country.

Israeli cabinet members blasted the court’s decision.

Populations of illegal African migrants have swelled in areas of Tel Aviv and other cities, bringing with them the difficulties and challenges of such an influx. The migrants are not asylum seekers, and Israel has been seeking ways to return them to their home countries. The migrants are refusing such moves because the quality of life in Israel is much higher than in their countries of origin. The High Court, in its ruling, rendered some of the state’s actions useless, a ruling many Israelis viewed as against Israel’s citizens and in favor of foreign nationals.

This ruling was the latest in a long list of rulings which have overturned government decisions and laws, leading many to view the High Court as a dictatorship which does not act in accordance with the values that guide the Jewish state.

High Court justices are not elected in Israel and are appointed by a committee which conducts itself in secrecy.

By: AP and World Israel News Staff

African migrantsHigh Court of JusticeIsraeli democracyMiriam Naor