Justice Barrier Against Netanyahu
Israel Reforms Rejected
Justice Barrier Against Netanyahu: Israel’s Supreme Court rejected the disputed judicial reforms, a decision that could reignite an institutional crisis and weaken the executive branch already facing serious challenges.
Israel’s Supreme Court, with a majority of at least 8 out of 15 judges, rejected the main part of the controversial judicial reforms passed in July by the far-right government led by Benjamin Netanyahu. This rejection pertains to changing the reasonableness clause, which limits the Supreme Court’s power to overturn government decisions if deemed unreasonable.
The Likud Party, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s party, stated that this decision goes against the nation’s desire for unity and is particularly unfortunate and ill-considered during wartime. In recent months, the reform project has led to significant protests and street mobilizations as a large segment of public opinion viewed it as a threat to Israeli democracy. Activists and experts argued that in the absence of a rigid constitution, allowing the Supreme Court to reject laws passed by the parliament is essential for preserving democratic governance and human rights.
However, this ruling is likely to risk creating a constitutional and political crisis, as the country faces the specter of escalating regional conflict, a conflict that began three months ago and continues. The judges’ decision indeed risks reigniting tensions and may destabilize the national unity government formed after Hamas’s October 7 attacks.
The Connection Between Two Crises
The rejection of judicial reforms will also have direct consequences on domestic security. Since its announcement in early January 2023, this government project has become the subject of one of the largest protest movements Israel has seen since its establishment in 1948.
Thousands of military and security personnel, including air force pilots and members of cyber intelligence and special operations units of the IDF, have stopped reporting in a real boycott against the Israeli executive branch, resulting in their suspension from service.
In the weeks before the law’s approval, intelligence services repeatedly warned Netanyahu that the internal crisis related to judicial review risked weakening Israel’s deterrence power and encouraging its enemies to attack the country.
After Hamas’s attacks, known as Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, many argued that the judicial reforms created such a distraction and disruption in the security apparatus, playing a decisive role in the significant failure of the intelligence and defense systems.
Prolonged Conflict
Meanwhile, Israel has announced that it will withdraw several thousand soldiers from the Gaza Strip to continue more targeted operations against Hamas. It also plans to reduce the number of reserve forces mobilized to support the country’s economy. According to Israeli military radio, five brigades will be withdrawn from the besieged area, but Prime Minister Netanyahu warned that the war would continue for several months.
The redeployment of military forces is the first since the conflict began, concerning the northern part of the Gaza Strip, where, with the reduced number of rocket launches, it seems to be fully under Israeli army control. In the central and southern areas around Khan Younis, where fighting with Hamas militants continues, the Israeli army intends to continue fighting with full force.
According to international press, Israel’s decision to withdraw a small portion of its forces is a response to pressure from its ally, the United States, and coincides with the start of a new phase of the war, a conflict that, according to military sources, could continue for at least another six months.
Israel’s military campaign followed Hamas’s attack on October 7, during which, according to Israeli officials, about 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 were taken hostage.
Increasing Hamas Supporters
Since Hamas’s attack on Israel, the humanitarian crisis and war devastation in the Gaza Strip have been unprecedented. According to health officials, so far about 70% of the nearly 22,000 recorded deaths in Palestinian territories have been women and children, a massacre that has outraged a large part of the international community and led the South African government to file a complaint with the International Criminal Court in The Hague, accusing Israel of genocide.
However, any hope for a new ceasefire agreement to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and free the 129 hostages still detained has been dashed by Hamas’s demand for the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
Meanwhile, as the civilian population falls prey to conflict and hunger, public anger and skepticism about the possibility of eradicating armed extremism from the region through bombing are rising.
Despite Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s claim that the Palestinian Authority remains the only pillar and point of reliance for finding a political solution to the existing conflict, polls suggest otherwise, indicating that Palestinian support for Hamas has increased since the conflict began. After multiple Israeli attacks on the West Bank in recent weeks, Hamas militants have seen an increase in their supporters in areas previously under the leadership of the Palestinian Authority.
Accordingly, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged earlier this week to prevent Abbas from regaining control over Gaza after the war, he effectively reiterated what Palestinian public opinion believes: the current Fatah leader no longer represents the future of Palestinians.
It seems that since the controversial judicial reforms were introduced by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, a complete geological era has passed, significantly causing division and discord in Israeli society. However, only a year has passed since then, and just eight votes were enough to reject one of the essential components of the judicial reform, a law that abolished the reasonableness standard.
A year after these reforms were introduced, it seems that the court has been strengthened due to Netanyahu’s government’s crusade, but this news is likely to go unnoticed due to the current specific and critical conditions. In fact, concerns are now directed elsewhere, with focus on the ongoing war and the devastation that has overturned Gaza and its population in the past three months.
