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Bar-Ilan Street Justice
The vilification of Israel's chief magistrate
by angry Haredim takes an ugly turn.
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Orthodox men shout at border police officers and try to block a thoroughfare on
Shabbat.
e's the most dangerous en-
emy of the Jewish way of
life!" read one warning
published in Israel last
week. His philosophy will lead to
a "dictatorship that endangers
democracy and the rule of law,"
warned another. "We must not
disperse [our] shells. The battle
must be focused on this man,
who is highly dangerous to
democracy and freedom."
The object of the near-hyste-
ria was actually the unassuming
and internationally respected
chief justice of Israel's Supreme
Court, Aharon Barak. And his
accusers were not the standard-
bearers of investigative journal-
ism, but a collection of publicists
writing in Haredi (religious)
newspapers and magazines that,
over the past week, have been
scrambling to outdo each other
as his most savage assailants.
The attacks were essentially
a byproduct of the "war" over
Jerusalem's Bar-Ilan Street, a
short stretch of thoroughfare that
the Haredi community wants
closed on Shabbat and Jewish
holidays; the city's secular resi-
dents want the street kept open.
Two weeks ago, after hearing
arguments by both sides, the
High Court essentially decided
not to decide — yet. Instead, it
ordered the minister of transport
to appoint a public committee,
composed of religious and secu-
lar citizens, to forge a consensus
on the principles to be applied to
all streets in Israel. Only when
the committee submits its rec-
ommendations will the High
Court rule.
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Until then, it ruled, traffic is
to continue flowing as usual.
It was the court's way of say-
ing that the Bar-Ilan imbroglio
is a public problem, rather than
a legal one, and that it should be
solved by public dialogue and
agreement.
Transport Minister Rabbi
Yitzhak Levy, a leader of the
modern-Orthodox National Re-
ligious Party, praised the action.
But rather than wait for the fi-
nal ruling, the Haredi press
launched a personal strike
against the chief justice.
To most Israelis, Mr. Barak is
an unlikely target. A Holocaust
survivor, legal scholar and for-
mer attorney general, he has
long been one of the country's
most respected figures.
Former Chief Justice Meir
Shamgar characterized him as
a "juridical genius." Former
Egyptian Prime Minister
Mustafa Khalil (who knew Mr.
Barak when, as attorney gener-
al, the Israeli worked on the
Camp David agreement) praised
him as one of the "most signifi-
cant Israelis of the era."
The Haredi community itself
has good reason to like Mr.
Barak. In one of his most famous
rulings, the judge upheld the
long-held practice of exempting
its yeshiva students from mili-
tary service.
Nonetheless, the Haredi pub-
lic opinion-makers have chosen
to demonize the jurist as a "po-
tential dictator" whose rulings
are based on a "personal outlook
BAR-ILAN page 84