Some of the mystery of Israel’s fascination with human rights in Pakistan, expressed in its expression of concern about the violation of PTI supporters’ human rights in their trials by military courts, by the recent passage of a judicial reforms package. Israel does not have a constitution, and judicial reforms can be carried out by a simple parliamentary majority.
One thing the Israeli government is worried about is making sure that the judiciary is not supreme over Parliament.
If Prime Minister Benjamin Netamyahu is accused of corruption, and if the law is changed to save him, then the Supreme Court must respect the will of the people. One wonders why Netanyahu is so concerned about the PTI, because its chief is so much against corruption. Admittedly, Netanyahu has sold no watchees, nor received any land for a university, but he has favoured a media mogul over his rivals.
There is a military component as well, as one of the means of protest has been the refusal to answer call-ups. Remember, the Israeli armed forces consist of conscripts, and could soon be dysfunctional if conscripts don’t show up. It’s a bit like the May 9 attacks. So we’ve got a government engaged in a clash with the judiciary, and an opposition which is going head-to-head with the military too. The big difference is that everybody knows the name of the COAS over here, but no one knows the name of the Israeli Chief of General Staff and Commander-in-Chief of the Israeli Defence Forces, who is a lieutenant-general, not a full general. I just hope he knows what name he has.
Now, if the Supreme Court strikes down a law, if the Knesset repasses it, it can’t be struck down. I’m sure our Parliament would like to have this tool of parliamentary supremacy. Of course, we are stuck with a Constitution, which Israel doesn’t have.
That wasn’t the only change in the world. Twitter removed the familiar bird logo and replaced it with an X. Now that was a jarring change, and more noticeable than the declining support in Sweden for a ban on Quran burning. It seems the Swedes want to make a fight of it. I mean, they’ve abandoned neutrality and applied to join NATO. To abandon freedom of speech and the consequent right to burn any book they please, seems a bit much.
Another thing that appeared much as the proposal to make Ishaq Dar caretaker PM. That would compromise the neutrality of the election, and would make people wonder why Hamza or Maryam couldn’t be caretaker CM (the one who would be dropped after the election). Well, the requirement for an economic wizard has led to suggestions like Hafeez Pasha or former SBP chief Raza Baqir. I’ve got a better suggestion, someone whose economic credentials made him come within a whisker of getting the Nobel Prize for Economics. Yes, I mean Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa.
I‘m not entirely sure how Imran would react. He has got a lot of legal troubles, but he has also noted the treason by Sri Lanka, whose batsmen betrayed him by throwing their wickets away to Shaheen Shah Afridi, so that at some future date he might find himself on the same page, just as Imran was. Pakistan managed to win both Tests though, though the second Test came under threat from rain. That is a time-honoured way of escaping defeat, though Sri Lanka didn’t make it, West Indies did against India in their test, and either Australia or England did in their Test.
Time was, and not so long ago, when the only Tests in July would be in England. It seems the schedule is now so crowded that everyone is extending their season. So cricket has got its own type of climate change.
