Jerusalem
Reuters
Tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated outside Israel’s parliament on Monday, as lawmakers took initial legislative steps towards enacting judicial changes proposed by the hard-right coalition government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that have drawn widespread criticism at home and abroad.
What is the Netanyahu government’s problem with the judiciary?
Many among Israel’s right-wingers say the Supreme Court is left-leaning, elitist and overreaches into the political sphere, while often putting minority rights before national interests.
Israeli protestors clash with police officers as they demonstrate on the day Israel’s constitution committee is set to start voting on changes that would give politicians more power on selecting judges while limiting Supreme Court’s powers to strike down legislation, outside the Knesset, Israel’s parliament in Jerusalem, on 13th February, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Ammar Awad
What does the coalition want?
The government has been pushing for changes that would limit the Supreme Court’s powers to rule against the legislature and the executive, while giving lawmakers decisive powers in appointing judges.
The panel for selecting judges requires politicians and judges who sit on it to agree on appointments. The present proposals – there’s more than one – would change that, giving government far more sway.
Netanyahu has been formally barred from involvement in the initiative because he is facing criminal corruption charges, which he denies.
Why are so many Israeli’s protesting?
Israel’s “checks and balances” are relatively fragile. It has no constitution, only “basic laws” meant to safeguard its democratic foundations and one house of parliament in which the government controls a majority.
Protesters fear that if the proposals pass, they will weaken the courts and hand unbridled power to the government, endangering civil liberties with catastrophic effects for the economy and relations with Western allies.
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What other factors are at play?
Critics fear Netanyahu wants to leverage the judicial push to freeze or cancel his trial, which he has denied. The left-wing opposition also says his nationalist allies want to weaken the Supreme Court to establish more settlements on land the Palestinians seek for a state. Ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties in the coalition want to pass a law exempting their community from service in the conscript military, which they worry may be struck down by the court if its powers are not cut back.
What’s next?
Some of the coalition’s proposed changes now sit with the Knesset’s plenum, where they await a first reading out of three needed to be written into law. The schedule has not yet been set. Other changes are still being discussed.
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog, whose role is largely ceremonial, has urged compromise. In a rare political intervention, he has outlined a five-point-plan as a platform for discussions. Opposition leaders have said they won’t talk before legislation is halted. Justice Minister Yariv Levin has said he was open to discussion but not to stopping legislation.
