Bibi Against Democracy

Bibi Against Democracy

Bibi Against Democracy: According to Iran Gate, Israel is pushing forward with judicial reforms amidst protests. Netanyahu’s government is stripping the Supreme Court of the right to block executive decisions deemed unreasonable. Thousands took to the streets in protest of this decision.

Thus, in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the passing of this law, which removes the Supreme Court’s right to oppose government decisions deemed unreasonable, in a live television broadcast. He justified it by stating that it is actually a democratic step to reset the balance between different branches of government.

However, protests quickly flared up in Jerusalem, and thousands of protesters blocked the streets. The city experienced tense hours. A driver drove into a crowd of opponents, injuring three people, and the police tried to disperse the crowd with water cannons. By the end of the day, at least 34 people were arrested.

This law is a central part of the judicial reforms that a large part of Israeli society has been protesting against in the streets for 29 weeks. Despite President Isaac Herzog’s calls for the government and opposition to reach a common agreement, the protests do not seem to be subsiding. One protester told the progressive Israeli newspaper Haaretz, ‘I feel this will be a long and exhausting struggle.’

The Limits of Reasonableness in Israel

The new law was passed on the morning of July 24 with 64 votes in favor and zero against because opponents of the law decided to leave the parliament in protest. This law revolves around the concept of reasonableness, which previously allowed the Supreme Court to block some government decisions and is part of an ambitious package of judicial reforms presented by Justice Minister Yariv Levin in January.

According to the Israel Democracy Institute, Levin’s plan significantly weakens the country’s judicial system and gives unlimited power to the executive branch. In contrast, supporters of this plan are convinced that it is necessary for the judiciary to operate within defined limits, which is currently completely untrustworthy and much stronger compared to the executive branch.

However, this issue gained a lot of attention and became newsworthy in January after the Supreme Court prevented Aryeh Deri, the leader of the extremist Shas party, from serving as Minister of Health and Interior due to convictions for tax evasion, bribery, corruption, and fraud. His appointment was deemed very unreasonable, a decision that put Netanyahu in a tight spot and forced him to forgo giving responsibilities to one of his strongest and most loyal allies.

According to Amir Fuchs, an analyst at the Israel Democracy Institute, the law and the right given to the Supreme Court created a balance between public and political interests because a decision deemed unreasonable focused disproportionately on political interests without considering the public interest.

However, the opposition has already announced that it will ask the same court to decide again on the legality of this government action, thus keeping the door open to a potential crisis.

Victory for the Nationalist Right Wing

While it can be claimed that the current executive branch is the most nationalist and conservative in the history of Israel, this recent event can also be seen as indicating Netanyahu’s weakness in gathering a coalition that has become increasingly controversial.

Anna Maria Baghiani from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem writes that we are in a situation where the positions of government partners seem to become more radical every day. Ben Gvir, the Minister of National Security, did not hide his happiness in front of reporters and said that for him, from today, Israel will be a little more democratic and a little more Jewish, and we will be able to do more and better things.

On the other hand, Ben Gvir is indeed a symbol of the Netanyahu government’s shift to the right. After years of being on the fringes of the political system due to his extreme views, he and his party, Jewish Power, have finally become a fundamental pillar in the current executive apparatus, to the point where he threatened to withdraw his support for the approved budget law, forcing Netanyahu to allocate a 34 billion euro annual budget for ultra-Orthodox extremist institutions.

Additionally, a 62 million euro budget for 2024 was allocated to increase resources for his ministry. Granting these requests increased the budget, which capped at around 249 billion euros, and this budget allocation to fund government allies’ projects angered many opponents and drew severe criticism.

Israel: Clash of Civilizations

The expansion of influence by parties like Jewish Power or United Torah Judaism has indeed increased concerns among more secular Israelis. Mira Lapidot, a museum curator in Tel Aviv, told the New York Times, ‘I really feel like they are looting us as if the country is at their mercy and everything in this country belongs to them.’

From the perspective of Yedidia Stern, a legal scholar trying to achieve compromise and reconciliation with opponents regarding the recently passed law, the dispute over judicial reforms can be seen as a symbol of an event or, in other words, a severe lack of trust between different segments of Israeli society. Stern described his country to the New York Times, saying, ‘In this country, four majorities coexist: religious nationalists, ultra-Orthodox Jews, secular Jews, and Arabs.’

In the current executive branch, only the first two groups are in power, which has led liberal and secular Israelis to perceive that the previously existing balance is being undermined. Even countries historically close to Israel are watching this trend with concern. A few hours after the law was passed, U.S. President Joe Biden made a brief comment, calling the decision regrettable and emphasizing that he, like his government, believes that major changes should be achieved through a maximum consensus.

According to analysts, the July 24 Knesset vote is a significant turning point for Israel and Netanyahu’s government’s judicial review process. The repeal of the reasonableness clause, one of the debated reform issues, indeed provides new opportunities for the executive branch. These opportunities include reinstating Aryeh Deri, the leader of the Shas religious party, to his ministerial position and passing a new law that guarantees exemption from military service for ultra-Orthodox Jews.

These issues, along with other changes, indicate that the negotiations with opponents in March were doomed to failure. The only image that remains is a government that fearlessly and unhesitatingly proceeds with reforms that unravel the social fabric and deeply change the institutional structure of the country.

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