10 | FEBRUARY 16 • 2023
PURELY COMMENTARY
continued from page 9
of law; and an independent
judiciary.” The proposed
legal “reform” would deal a
lethal blow to four of these
five principles. Should it pass
in its current format, the
Supreme Court has strong
grounds for declaring it null
and void.
The message is clear:
Changes are possible, and
there are certainly improve-
ments to be made. There is
a need for a Basic Law on
legislation that defines the
relations among the branch-
es of government. But, as
the attorney general writes,
changes in the structure of
the regime must be intro-
duced in a deliberate and
orderly fashion, founded in
fact, and based on a broad
consensus.
“In order to resolve the
relations and balance among
the branches of government
in a serious way, one cannot
focus exclusively on one nar-
row aspect and relate to the
judicial branch only, without
at the same time setting
boundaries for the executive
and legislative branches.”
Defining the relations
among the branches of gov-
ernment: Yes. Unlimited
power to the government:
No.
Suzie Navot is a professor of
constitutional law and the vice
president of the Israel Democracy
Institute.
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My Friend,
Bassam Eid
I was happy to read
“Palestinians Must Confront
the Violence in our Culture,
” by
Bassam Eid (Feb. 9, page 12).
Our relationship with this
courageous person began
in the early 1980s when my
son Gilead, was an aide in
Congress, including staff
director of the Africa House
Subcommittee and then
staff director of the Western
Hemisphere.
Yassir Arafat put Bassem
Eid on house arrest and
then-Secretary of State Warren
Christopher asked Gilead, who
is naturally fluent in Hebrew,
growing up in a Hebrew-
speaking household, as well as
having knowledge of Arabic
from his graduate degree in
Mideastern studies, to speak to
Bassem and find out the details
of his house arrest. Gilead
did as asked, and shortly after
Bassem was free.
In 2015 we came to Israel
to celebrate the bar mitzvah of
Gilead’s oldest child, Rome. We
were scheduled to see a beauti-
ful light and sound show about
the history of Jerusalem, but we
were late and had to wait for
the next one. In the meantime,
Gilead noticed that in the same
building there was an office
of a person whom he knew in
the states. His American friend
was not there, but the secretary
introduced him to Bassem.
Imagine Gilead’s delight and
surprise!
The following Shabbat he
was a guest in our Shabbat
table. The rest is history. I saw
him again when he spoke in
Hadassah House some years
ago but heard from him two
days ago after wishing him a
happy birthday.
— Rachel Kapen
West Bloomfield
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