Submitted by Dave Levy, Dec 8, 2007 16:59

The Israeli Supreme Court should have had it's wings clipped long ago. Unfortunately, Israel does not have a Constitution, and years of precedents. Our founding fathers understood the importance of the judiciary, the legislative and the executive, in separating powers.

The real question in my mind is, what authority does the Supreme Court have in the administration of areas taken by Israel in it's several wars (of survival)?

Let us look briefly at the current dispute over whether the chauffer of Bin Ladin, who has been held in the prison in Gitmo, is an enemy combatant or a prisoner of war? His and other attorneys have, and are appealing decisions to the US Supreme Court? Our Supreme Court handles Constitutional issues only.

Israel therefore needs to define who has what responsibility? Going to the public on matters like this just complicates the problem further. An activist Justice MInister's influence on the court is also not in Israel's interests. I mean, what will the next minister's attitude be?

If Israel has a responsibility to the Palestinians, under international law, given the current situation, then this form of collective punishment is illegal. By extension, any cut-off of utilities or food or medicine, is blatantly illegal. However, if Israel, which declared the Strip an enemy (hostile) entity, has no further obligations pursuant to their withdrawal (disengagement) then this is all moot.

Practically, what will Israel gain if another Arab country substitutes it's own resources? For example, Egypt could supply the Gaza Strip with fuel, electricity, food and medicine which it has an abundance of.

So, there are several questions here to be answered. It is my belief that Israel has yet to confront the above. It is possible that the Supreme Court is looking to the future, if Israel relinquishes the Golan Heights and the West Bank, which could possibly result in stopping any water from going to Israel.

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