Opposition Afraid To Speak Against Bill To Ban Slippery Slope Arguments

“If this bill passes, then any-  I mean, what if…” she trailed off.

Jerusalem, February 29 – Members of Knesset expressed reservations today regarding their options in upcoming deliberations over a legislative proposal to retroactively prohibit use of the slippery-slope argument.

Likud MK Nisan Slomiansky introduced the bill today making it a misdemeanor to invoke the argument, and a felony carrying a mandatory prison sentence to do so while citing concern for Israeli democracy. Opposition MKs at first began yelling their disapproval of the measure, but quickly realized they faced a formidable challenge in fighting the proposal on democracy grounds without risking a retroactive violation of it if it becomes law as expected. The law would make the prohibition apply from the period beginning March 1, 2016, regardless of when the legislation passes its third and final reading. Similar provisions will apply to non-government entities, with penalties ranging from denial of government benefits to fines and confiscation of certain categories of property. Each conviction will also result in mandatory logic classes for the offender.

“This is an important measure in removing certain logical fallacies from our political discourse,” said Slomiansky. “A sober assessment of a bill’s practical impact is often impeded by emotional or irrational projections, usually characterized by assertions or implications that if it becomes law, a bill will lead to some series of consequences to the detriment of Israeli democracy. Well, no more – Israeli democracy is certainly not served well by irresponsible uses of that logical fallacy, and it will be henceforth forbidden.”

Opposition lawmakers voiced their disapproval of the proposal, but were reluctant to specify why. “We’re against it,” said Opposition Leader and Labor Party Chairman Isaac Herzog. “This bill will, uh… it will, uh… be bad. We oppose it.”

“You bet we oppose it!” seconded HaTnuah leader Tzipi Livni. “If this bill passes, then any-  I mean, what if…” she trailed off.

Political analysts were wary of predicting the proposal’s fate. “I would have no difficulty with this forecast if the only issue here were the slippery slope,” explained commentator Hanan Crystal. “It would be more or less a straight-up calculation of Coalition vs. Opposition votes, as usual. But things are a bit more complicated, for two main reasons: one, even Coalition MKs will be wary of the bill, because their arguments in general – not just in terms of this law – amount to some version of the slippery slope, especially when it comes to security issues and deterrence; and two, the bill also includes a retroactive ban on the straw man argument – so if you think I’m going to talk about this legislation at all, you’ve got another think coming.”