Israel’s government scores its first judicial reform triumph and ignores the protests

Long weeks of mass protests have failed Benjamin Netanyahu and the parliament this Monday approved the key point of the package proposed for judicial reform in Israel. The presence of thousands of protesters in front of the doors of the Knesset and more than 30 hours of debate in the Parliament did not achieve their goal and the so-called “sanity test”which allowed the Supreme Court to question laws and legislative appointments based on their wisdom, was overturned by 64 votes to zero, after a boycott by the opposition that left the House.

Disappointing the protesters and Netanyahu’s detractors was the issue of the day. The face was formed by government politicians such as Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who was delighted after this “first step in the historic process of correcting the justice system.” Economy chief Bezalel Smotrich said: “We left no stone unturned until the last minute, but unfortunately the opposition was against” any kind of compromise.

former prime minister Yair Lapid He said exactly the same thing, but in the opposite sense: “In the last weeks, and especially in the last 48 hours, we did everything possible to reach an agreement as we promised,” but it was not possible, the newspaper said. Times of Israel. For Lapid, it was a “sad day” and he condemned it The executive branch “breaks the rules of the game” because “he can choose the direction of the state, but he cannot decide on the character of the state”. In his opinion, Netanyahu has become a “puppet in the hands of extremists.”

Abolishing the sanity test was a priority of the current Government because it directly affected the formation of the Government after the last elections. The Supreme Court rejected the appointment of Aryeh Deri as Minister of Interior and Health due to his criminal convictions for fraud and bribery, the most recent in January 2022. Netanyahu complied with the decision, Deri lost his portfolio and condemned himself as a victim of “political punishment”. This will not happen again.

The dialogue between the parties, led by President Isaac Herzog, has not achieved its goal and Israel is an increasingly divided country. The “reasonableness test” is the first step in a series of measures aimed at subjecting the Supreme Court to government control. The next steps in the roadmap established by Netanyahu, who must always pass three votes in parliament to move forward, will be the so-called “nullification clause,” which allows the Supreme Court to overturn laws it deems unconstitutional (even though Israel does not have a constitution) and how the judges who make up this high court are chosen.

Happiness within the executive branch has been translated into concern in the mouth of the president whose position is purely symbolic in the system of the Jewish state. Netanyahu’s solid majority in the House of Representatives, with the support of ultra-Orthodox and ultra-nationalist Zionists, allows him to make steady progress on reforms. The number and scale of the protests is historic, but not enough to stop the plans of what the local media are calling the “most radical government” in Israel’s history. According to Herzog, “this is an urgent moment and an agreement must be reached”, but his words did not influence the final vote in Parliament.

new mobilizations

The streets received the approval of the new law with a call to intensify mobilization. The Movement for Quality Government, the initiator of the camps, road closures or mass marches towards Jerusalem in recent days, announced new protests and complained that “no one can foresee the damage that the adoption of the new law will bring”.

Social movements opposing the government have the support of an important group of military reservists. So far, more than 10,000 reservists have pledged to stop reporting for duty if the reform, or part of it, is enacted. Herzi Halevi, the commander of the army, recalled the importance of maintaining a “strong and united army” in order to “continue to exist as a state in this region.” Military service in Israel is mandatory and lasts three years; then their period in the reserve is extended to the age of 40. From this moment on, whoever does not follow the line cannot be punished.