ליברטריאנים בישראל

As the loyal readers of this site know, Israel is infamous for a variety of arbitrary bans and restrictions – restrictions on racing, poker, and balcony enclosures, sin taxes on amplifiers – but this one perhaps takes the cake. The Israeli government has, without warning, prohibited the iPad device from being brought into the country, on the excuse that it has not yet been approved for use with our Wi-Fi networks. Those citizens who own an iPad will have it confiscated on entry to the country, and pay 50 shekels (13 USD) per day for the privilege of having their iPad stored by the Israeli government.

The decision has – as many of the decisions previously highlighted on this blog – been made in an undemocratic manner. Some unelected bureaucrat equipped with tenure and a 15,000-shekel salary, wearing a grey suit and perched in an office in Jerusalem, has decided you should not own an iPad. He cares not to release his research, or to even sign his name on his. He speaks to us through a ’spokesman’ – a man named Dr. Yechiel Shavi. As usual, the decision has been made while completely ignoring openness, transparency, democracy, and even basic fairness.

Naturally, this is not a major issue. Nobody will go out into the streets about this – even though it is, from a libertarian perspective, a violation of individual rights. Yet it is a violation of your individual rights. It is not the only such violation – the modern state creates dozens of such invasions of individual liberty every day. Lots, and lots of little thing – and little things pile up.

Yet, in this specific case, it is still possible to protest against this decision. True, you probably don’t own, or plan to own, an iPad – but this isn’t about iPads. It’s about your citizens being treated fairly and decently by their fellow man. Remember – whoever you are, if you are an Israeli citizen, you probably have a hobby, an activity, a right of some kind that’s being unfairly restricted or interfered with by the State. If you want to live in a society where rights are respected – a fair, just, and free society – the only way to do it is not to ignore an abuse of those rights you care little for, but to stand up for your fellow citizens and hope they stand up for you.

In this case, you can even do it without getting out of your home. Doctor Yechiel Shabi, the official Ministry of Communications spokesman on this issue, can be contacted at 050-6236001, or at his email address shabiy@moc.gov.il . It would be an easy matter for you to deliver a personal message to him about this topic.

All it takes is a short phonecall or an email. If you do not know what to write – this site here has a sample message. True, it’s a minor issue – but it is an issue on which we can easily succeed. And little things do pile up.