Eldar: “Spitting at the rule of law.”

From Ha’aretz columnist Akiva Eldar, we learn that Israel is ignoring many rulings by its own Supreme Court.

“At the offices of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel there is a blacklist of rulings by the High Court of Justice that have not been implemented. The list includes provision of protection for communities bordering the Gaza Strip, which has been delayed endlessly; the cessation of restrictions limiting foreign workers to a single employer; equalization of budgetary allocations to schools in the Arab sector; and an arrangement concerning the status of common-law spouses.”

Eldar goes on to reveal that Supreme Court Justice Beinisch grew so exasperated over the ignoring of decisions against the Wall  that she “informed Defense Minister Ehud Barak that a ruling handed down by the High Court is not merely ‘a recommendation.'”

Eldar contrasts the media furor over a shoe throwing incident with the silence in the face of these violations of the rule of law:

“The new attorney general, Yehuda Weinstein, should know that the burning issue today is not the thug who threw a shoe at the Supreme Court president’s face. The challenge facing him is to take control of those in authority who are routinely spitting in her face.”

In the United States, we look upon the Trail of Tears as one of our more most shameful episodes. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against it, but President Andrew Jackson ignored the decision and went ahead in removing the Cherokee people. What will future generations make of Israel’s current actions?