Israel’s parliament passes bill on controversial judiciary restructuring Delay on Tokyo ring line makes headlines

Despite massive opposition, Israel’s parliament has approved a core element of the controversial judicial reform. After days of debate on Monday, 64 out of 120 MPs voted in favor of a bill that limits the Supreme Court’s scope of action.

The opposition boycotted the vote. The law is part of a larger package. Critics see it as a threat to Israeli democracy and even warn against the introduction of a dictatorship. Israeli Justice Minister Jariv Levin, on the other hand, spoke of a “correction of the judicial system”.

Corruption warnings

With the new law, it is no longer possible for the Supreme Court to judge a decision by the government or individual ministers as “inappropriate”. Many experts fear that this will encourage corruption and thus the arbitrary filling of important posts or layoffs.

“The court is losing an important tool for scrutinizing government politicians,” said Johanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute. Important positions in the country could be filled with yes men, the attorney general dismissed. The allocation of resources or the granting of licenses to companies is no longer controllable.

Proponents of the reform argue that unlike MPs or ministers, judges are not directly elected by the people. They are now more independent from the judges and can more easily defend the interests of their constituents. In addition, they repeatedly accuse the Supreme Court of representing more ‘leftist’ views.

The State of Israel has no written constitution and is instead based on a set of fundamental laws. Therefore, the Supreme Court is of particular importance in upholding the rule of law and human rights.

State crisis warning

It was initially unclear how the Supreme Court would act once the law was passed. The Israeli Bar Association, among others, announced that it would take action against the new law. However, according to Plesner, intervention by the court would set a precedent. “The court has never reversed a similar change,” he said. If it decides to do so, it could lead to a “sovereign crisis”.

For more than six months, the project has divided large segments of Israeli society. Tens of thousands of people protested during the Knesset vote. According to media reports, some protesters tried to storm the plenum. The protest movement announced that it would continue its protest “until the end”. “We’re just getting started,” the organizers said.

Negotiations for a compromise, which lasted until the last minute, came to nothing. “It is impossible to make agreements with this government that will preserve Israeli democracy,” said opposition leader Jair Lapid. The government wants to “tear apart the state, destroy democracy, destroy the security of Israel, the unity of the people of Israel and our international relations.”

All eyes on the military

Recently, resistance within the army has also increased. More than 10,000 reservists have announced they will no longer serve if some of the controversial plans are approved. This can severely limit usability. “The reservists’ threats will certainly be partly realized, others may follow,” Plesner said. This could develop into a serious “security crisis”. There were also threats from the economy.

Criticism has also recently come from Israel’s closest ally, the United States. US President Joe Biden spoke out against the plans the morning before the vote. The Jewish state is currently facing many threats and challenges. The country must therefore focus on “bringing people together and finding a consensus,” Biden told the news website Axios.

The course of the Netanyahu administration has become a stress test for Israeli-American relations in recent months, as the Israeli and American media unanimously report. The United States supports Israel with billions of dollars in defense every year

Just the beginning

Netanyahu’s coalition partners, meanwhile, felt emboldened by the outcome of the vote. Ministers hugged each other in the plenary meeting, folded their hands, took selfies and signaled: this is just the beginning. Another important element of the reform – a change in the composition of judges – should be on the agenda for the next session in the fall.

The law changes are also being pushed through under pressure from Netanyahu’s strictly religious coalition partners. However, according to experts, they could also play into the hands of Netanyahu in a long-running corruption trial against him.

Opposition leader Lapid spoke of an “unprecedented show of weakness” by the head of government. Benjamin Netanyahu had become “the puppet of a series of messianic extremists”. (sda/dpa)

(yam/saw/sda/dpa)