美国国家公共电台 NPR--How much is Israel's new government trying to change the balance of power?

How much is Israel's new government trying to change the balance of power?

Transcript¹

With a coalition² that includes far-right figures, Benjamin Netanyahu is prime minister again. NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Dahlia Scheindlin, a columnist³ for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We have a dissenting⁴ view of the new government in Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu is prime minister once again, taking power with a coalition that includes far-right figures. Though he was always conservative, this government is different than past ones and includes some politicians linked with banned extremist groups. In Netanyahu's most recent conversation on this program, he said not to worry about his new allies.

PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: They're joining me. I'm not joining them. I'll have two hands firmly on the steering⁵ wheel. I won't let anybody do anything to LGBT or to deny our Arab citizens their rights or anything like that - just won't happen. And the test of time will prove that.

INSKEEP: Now a little time has passed, a few weeks anyway. And Dahlia Scheindlin has been watching. She is a fellow at The Century Foundation. She is a columnist for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, and she is in Tel Aviv. Welcome to the program.

DAHLIA SCHEINDLIN: Thank you for having me.

INSKEEP: How much is this new government trying to change the balance of power in Israel?

SCHEINDLIN: It is absolutely trying to overturn the balance of power. In the Israeli political system, we have an unusual situation in which there are almost no institutional and formal checks and balances, frankly⁶, on the executive power. And that's because the executive is formed out of a coalition government which represents a parliamentary majority. So ultimately, the executive power can control the legislature. And what this government is trying very hard to do and looks very closely poised⁷ to do is essentially⁸ demolish⁹ the independence of the judiciary in general but also essentially stop the power of judicial¹⁰ review, stop the authority of the court, both to use judicial review and allow the Knesset to override¹¹ it, which basically allows the government to override it with pretty much any coalition majority.

INSKEEP: The prime minister calls that, though, a minor¹² correction. Is it?

SCHEINDLIN: No, it's not a minor correction. Yes, they have been trying to portray¹³ this as a simple adjustment. They call it a reform. But even very few of their supporters see it that way. We see from public opinion polling that a majority of the public wants the court to continue to exercise judicial review. Of course, we've seen widespread protests. And I don't think anybody truly sees this as a simple adjustment of the balance of powers, knowing that the judiciary is one of the few constraining¹⁴ forces and the only constraining force on legislation that might violate basic human and civil rights in Israel.

INSKEEP: A shift in the balance of power in theory doesn't hurt anybody until the government then abuses that in some way, I suppose. So that leads to my next question. Are there specific concrete ways in which this new government has acted in a way that affects people that seems far right to you?

SCHEINDLIN: Absolutely. I mean, the government is very new, but we've seen the kinds of promises they've made to the far right, specifically religious Zionism in their constituent¹⁵ parties. I think the obvious is discrimination against the Arab minority in Israel. There was also a very strong concern that there would be discrimination against the LGBTQ community, and that's because several members of these coalition partners are openly and, frankly, rather proudly homophobic. I don't even like the word homophobic. I mean, it's not just fear of them. It's active hostility¹⁶ against them. You know, anybody can be discriminated¹⁷ against if the law allows it. Now, that's before even getting to religion and state because this is a very religious government. They would like to essentially force religious practice on all Israelis, particularly in terms of keeping the Sabbath, which is no less than religious coercion¹⁸ for anybody who is not as Orthodox as the most Orthodox coalition members. And they're a minority.

And, of course, the ramifications¹⁹ for the West Bank - this government is certainly planning to create legislation that would advance annexation²⁰, legalize settlements, expand settlements, reinstate legislation that had been struck down by the Supreme²¹ Court because it involves the theft of private Palestinian land and anything else that will perpetuate²² Israel's occupation and de facto sovereignty over all of the West Bank and effective control over Gaza.

INSKEEP: I want to note that these are things that members of the governing coalition have proposed or discussed rather than done. Netanyahu says he's not going to let them do anything too extreme. Are there any signs that the prime minister will restrain the more extreme members of his group?

SCHEINDLIN: Yeah, there's a very common perception that Netanyahu is actually moderate and he simply depends on these right-wing coalition partners, but that he will certainly restrain them when it comes down to it. Now, in the past, he has restrained justice ministers that have already been taking the position of trying to weaken the independence of the judiciary and the authority of judicial review in previous years. But that kind of restraint was before Netanyahu himself was standing²³ trial on three counts of corruption²⁴. Nevertheless, over the course of the last decade, Netanyahu has also nurtured²⁵ and essentially rewarded and promoted the very figures both within his party and within his coalition partners who have been conducting these attacks on the court over the course of a decade.

So calling on people to trust him is not a constitutional check and balance on power. The very idea of a liberal democracy is that the institutions are responsible for guaranteeing, you know, restraint on the state's power and preserving the rights of citizens. It is not a personalized system in which one person says we're going to destroy the entire system. You will have no institutional checks. But as long as you keep me in power, I will hold back the worst of the policies, no matter who his coalition partners would be. That is not a democratic approach to governance.

INSKEEP: Israeli newspaper columnist Dahlia Scheindlin, thank you so much.

SCHEINDLIN: Thank you for having me.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

4 dissenting   

adj.不同意的

参考例句：

• He can't tolerate dissenting views. 他不能容纳不同意见。
• A dissenting opinion came from the aunt . 姑妈却提出不赞同的意见。

5 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

6 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

7 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 demolish   

v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等)

参考例句：

• They're going to demolish that old building.他们将拆毁那座旧建筑物。
• He was helping to demolish an underground garage when part of the roof collapsed.他当时正在帮忙拆除一个地下汽车库，屋顶的一部份突然倒塌。

10 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

11 override   

vt.不顾，不理睬，否决；压倒，优先于

参考例句：

• The welfare of a child should always override the wishes of its parents.孩子的幸福安康应该永远比父母的愿望来得更重要。
• I'm applying in advance for the authority to override him.我提前申请当局对他进行否决。

12 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

13 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

14 constraining   

强迫( constrain的现在分词 )； 强使； 限制； 约束

参考例句：

• He was constraining his mind not to wander from the task. 他克制着不让思想在工作时开小差。
• The most constraining resource in all of these cases is venture capital. 在所有这些情况下最受限制的资源便是投入资本。

15 constituent   

n.选民；成分，组分；adj.组成的，构成的

参考例句：

• Sugar is the main constituent of candy.食糖是糖果的主要成分。
• Fibre is a natural constituent of a healthy diet.纤维是健康饮食的天然组成部分。

16 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

17 discriminated   

分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 )； 歧视，有差别地对待

参考例句：

• His great size discriminated him from his followers. 他的宽广身材使他不同于他的部下。
• Should be a person that has second liver virus discriminated against? 一个患有乙肝病毒的人是不是就应该被人歧视？

18 coercion   

n.强制，高压统治

参考例句：

• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions.既不诱供也不逼供。
• He paid the money under coercion.他被迫付钱。

19 ramifications   

n.结果，后果( ramification的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These changes are bound to have widespread social ramifications. 这些变化注定会造成许多难以预料的社会后果。
• What are the ramifications of our decision to join the union? 我们决定加入工会会引起哪些后果呢？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 annexation   

n.吞并，合并

参考例句：

• He mentioned the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910 .他提及1910年日本对朝鲜的吞并。
• I regard the question of annexation as belonging exclusively to the United States and Texas.我认为合并的问题，完全属于德克萨斯和美国之间的事。

21 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

22 perpetuate   

v.使永存，使永记不忘

参考例句：

• This monument was built to perpetuate the memory of the national hero.这个纪念碑建造的意义在于纪念民族英雄永垂不朽。
• We must perpetuate the system.我们必须将此制度永久保持。

23 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

24 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

25 nurtured   

养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• She is looking fondly at the plants he had nurtured. 她深情地看着他培育的植物。
• Any latter-day Einstein would still be spotted and nurtured. 任何一个未来的爱因斯坦都会被发现并受到培养。