Israel bristles at Biden’s criticism of his judicial reform

In a disturbing episode in the historic alliance between Israel and the United States, Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu criticisms were raised about judicial reform attacked by Tel Aviv at the beginning of the year.

The change promoted by the Israeli prime minister’s far-right government aims to end the design of a political system that places heavy weight on the judiciary. Netanyahu’s proposal included subordinating the judiciary to the executive, which fundamentally changed the balance in the configuration of the state. According to the Israeli executive, their mandate empowered them to reform the country’s constitutional architecture, despite the fact that they won the last election with less than 50% of the vote.

Tel Aviv put the reform on hold on Monday, after Netanyahu’s decision to fire his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday night sparked intensifying protests. Gallant defended delaying the reform given the doubts it had raised among the armed forces. Gallant’s removal would also prompt Washington to go public with its criticism of the reform.

On Tuesday, when asked by reporters, Biden expressed concern about the authoritarian movement of Israel’s executive branch. “They can’t go that way”, He said. In addition, Biden added that he expects the Israeli prime minister to correct the course of the reform, which, he said, “will remain to be seen.” The statements followed weeks of warnings from Washington about the risk the reform poses to Israel’s character as the only democracy in the Middle East.

Prime Minister Netanyahu responded on Wednesday morning that “Israel is a sovereign country that makes decisions in accordance with the public will.” Ben Gvir, Minister of National Securityhe expressed himself even more sharply and emphasized that Israel “is not another star on the flag of the United States.”

The exchange between the governments of the two countries came hours before Biden chaired the Summit for Democracy from the White House. Netanyahu was one of the leaders who participated in the meeting, to which countries that have shown democratic deterioration in recent years – such as Hungary or Turkey – were not invited.

Washington’s criticism of the reform could serve Netanyahu’s executive to justify a pause in the process since the alliance with the US is seen as a matter of national security. The tensions come as Biden has yet to host Netanyahu at the White House, a visit that, due to the alliance’s historic and strategic nature, usually takes place shortly after an Israeli executive is inaugurated.