![]() ![]() Maya Alleruzzo/APĭespite his victory on Monday, Netanyahu is likely to face more pressure over the reforms. Netanyahu, center, attends a session in the Knesset on Monday, July 24, 2023. Opponents of the plan call it a “coup” and say it threatens to turn Israel into a dictatorship by removing the most significant checks on government actions. Other parts of the planned overhaul which are yet to be voted on by the Knesset would give Netanyahu’s coalition more control over the appointment of judges, and would remove independent legal advisers from government ministries. Netanyahu and his allies call the measures “reforms” and say they are required to rebalance powers between the courts, lawmakers and the government. At the same time, the Supreme Court is the only check on the power of the Knesset and the government, since the executive and legislative branches are always controlled by the same governing coalition. Israel, which has no written constitution and no upper chamber of the parliament, has had a relatively powerful Supreme Court, which supporters of the changes argue is problematic. The same is true of Israelis and foreigners – most of them civilians – killed in Palestinian attacks. The number of Palestinians, militants and civilians, killed in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces is at its highest in nearly two decades. The fight is happening against the backdrop of some of the worst violence in many years. It has pitted a coalition of right-wing and religious groups against the secular, liberal parts of Israeli society and sparked the longest and largest protests in the country’s 75-year history. The fierce debate over the planned judicial overhaul has turned into a battle over the soul of the Israeli state. The Israeli Shekel was also weaker against the dollar, dropping just under 1%. The Israeli stock market dropped after the vote, its main index, the TA-35, trading more than 2% lower. Speaking after the Knesset passed the bill on Monday, the White House said it was “unfortunate that the vote today took place with the slimmest possible majority.” ![]() “Given the range of threats and challenges confronting Israel right now, it doesn’t make sense for Israeli leaders to rush this – the focus should be on pulling people together and finding consensus,” Biden said in a statement provided to CNN on Sunday.īiden raised concerns directly with Netanyahu during a phone call last week and then called New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman to the Oval Office to make clear his stance on the judicial overhaul. In a highly unusual step, the US President Joe Biden weighed in on the policy and warned that rushing the changes through without a broad consensus amounts to an erosion of democratic institutions and could undermine US-Israel relations. “The call for refusal harms the security of all citizens of the country,” he said. He also urged reservists to not refuse to serve. ![]() He later said the passage of the law was a necessary “democratic move” and he was “fulfilling the will of the voter” during an address to the nation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who left hospital on Monday morning after having been fitted with a pacemaker, pushed the bill through despite Israel’s most important ally, the United States, issuing increasingly forceful warnings not to do so. The Movement for Quality Government, an Israeli NGO, filed a petition with the Supreme Court immediately after the vote took place, asking the court to declare the law illegal on the grounds that it changes the basic structure of Israeli democracy, and requesting that it block its implementation until the court has ruled on it. Its passing could trigger a constitutional crisis – if the court declares the law itself is unreasonable. The so-called reasonableness law takes away the Supreme Court’s power to block government decisions by declaring them unreasonable. Here's what comes nextįormer Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said he would file a petition with the Supreme Court on Tuesday to block the law and has urged the military reservists not to refuse to serve until the court delivers its ruling. Israel passed a bill to limit the Supreme Court's power. Protesters take part in a demonstration against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his nationalist coalition government's judicial overhaul by the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem on Monday. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |