Tag: Israel protests

Israel’s High Court hears a challenge to a law that makes it harder to remove Netanyahu from office

Post By World , , , , , ,

Israelis protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to overhaul the judicial system and in support of the Supreme Court ahead of a pivotal hearing, in Jerusalem, on September 28, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

Israel’s Supreme Court on September 28 was hearing a challenge to a law that makes it harder to remove a sitting Prime Minister, which critics say is designed to protect Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has been working to reshape the justice system while he is on trial for alleged corruption.

The hearing is part of several pivotal court challenges against a proposed package of legislation and government steps meant to alter the country’s justice system. It comes after months of turmoil in Israel over the plan and deepens a rift between Mr. Netanyahu‘s government and the judiciary, which it wants to weaken despite unprecedented opposition.

Thursday’s hearing on the law, the second by the High Court, took place in front of an expanded 11-judge panel, underscoring the importance of the deliberations.

In Focus Podcast | Why are Israelis protesting against PM Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul proposals?

Mr. Netanyahu’s governing coalition — Israel’s most religious and nationalist ever — passed an amendment known as the “incapacitation law” in March which allows a Prime Minister to be deemed unfit to rule only for medical or mental health reasons. Under the amendment, only the Prime Minister or the government has the power to determine a leader’s unfitness.

The previous version of the law was vague about both the circumstances in which a prime minister could be deemed unfit, as well as who had the authority to declare it. But experts say the amendment expressly strips the attorney general, who historically wields the power to declare a Prime Minister unfit for office, of the ability to do so.

The attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, has told Mr. Netanyahu he was violating a conflict of interest agreement but has not indicated she might move toward declaring him unfit over that.

Critics say the law protects Mr. Netanyahu from being deemed unfit for office over claims that he violated the conflict of interest agreement by dealing with the legal overhaul while on trial for corruption charges. They also say the law is tailor-made for Mr. Netanyahu and encourages corruption.

Based on those criticisms, Thursday’s hearing is focusing on whether the law should come into effect after the next national elections and not immediately, so that it isn’t interpreted as a personalized law. A ruling is expected by January.

EDITORIAL | Dangerous overhaul: On Israel’s judicial overhaul plan

“We are trying to repeal the undemocratic and unconstitutional statute which allowed an unfit and improper prime minister to remain in his position. Actually, they built him a kind of a golden cage (so) that he will be protected from justice,” said Eliad Shraga, chairman of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, which is challenging the amendment.

Israelis protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to overhaul the judicial system and in support of the Supreme Court ahead of a pivotal hearing, in Jerusalem, on Sept. 28, 2023.

Israelis protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to overhaul the judicial system and in support of the Supreme Court ahead of a pivotal hearing, in Jerusalem, on Sept. 28, 2023.
| Photo Credit:
AP

Ahead of the hearing, dozens of protesters gathered outside Netanyahu’s private residence in Jerusalem, chanting “democracy,” while his allies defended the law. Simcha Rothman, a main driver of the overhaul, told Israeli Army Radio that the court’s decision to hear the case was harmful to Israeli democracy and challenging the law was akin to throwing out the results of a legitimate election.

“The moment the court determines the laws, then it is also the legislative branch, the judiciary and the executive branch,” he said. “This is an undemocratic reality.”

The government wants to weaken the Supreme Court and limit judicial oversight on its decisions, saying it wants to return power to elected lawmakers and away from what it sees as a liberal-leaning, interventionist justice system. The first major piece of the overhaul was passed in July and an unprecedented 15-judge panel began hearing arguments against it earlier this month.

The drive to reshape Israel’s justice system comes as Mr. Netanyahu’s trial for alleged corruption is ongoing. He is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases involving influential media moguls and wealthy associates. He denies wrongdoing, seeing the charges as part of a “witch-hunt” against him orchestrated by a hostile media and a biased justice system.

Experts and legal officials say a conflict of interest arrangement struck after Mr. Netanyahu was indicted is meant to limit his involvement in judicial changes. After the incapacitation law was passed, Mr. Netanyahu said his hands were no longer tied and that he was taking a more active role in the legal changes underway. That sparked a rebuke from Ms. Baharav-Miara, who said Netanyahu’s remarks and any further actions were “completely illegal and in conflict of interest.”

Critics say Mr. Netanyahu and his government are working to upend the country’s delicate system of checks and balances and setting Israel on a path toward autocracy. The overhaul has plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises, deepening longstanding societal divisions between those who want Israel to be a Western-facing liberal democracy and those who want to emphasize the country’s more conservative Jewish character.

Mr. Netanyahu has moved forward with the overhaul despite a wave of opposition from a broad swath of Israeli society. Top legal officials, leading economists and the country’s booming tech sector have all spoken out against the judicial changes, which have sparked opposition from hundreds of military reservists, who have said they will not serve so long as the overhaul remains on the table. Tens of thousands of people have protested every Saturday for the last nine months.

Source link

#Israels #High #Court #hears #challenge #law #harder #remove #Netanyahu #office

Torn between protests and judicial reforms, Israel seeks a way forward

Post By World , , , , , , , , , , , ,

On July 24, Knesset legislators approved the first Bill in a package of upcoming judicial reforms, nullifying the ‘reasonability’ clause in a 64-0 vote, after the 56 members of the Opposition boycotted the vote. Leading up to the vote, protests reached a boiling point outside the Knesset, as protest leaders declared that they had blocked all entrances to the Parliament compound and wouldn’t allow the vote, a claim immediately denied by the Israel Police.

The reasonability clause was legal terminology introduced in its current form to the Israeli Supreme Court by Justice Aharon Barak to strike down administrative decisions deemed beyond the pale in terms of reasonable judgement, even if they did not contradict any written letter of law. A parallel legal clause exists in England and Singapore.

Also read: Explained | Why has Israel paused the judicial reform plan? 

Critics deemed this an aggravated judicial overreach, as judges could thus declare Ministers incapable of decision-making. Two noted critics, Justice Noam Solberg and Justice Alex Stein, currently sit on the Supreme Court. Most of the legal establishment uncompromisingly rejects the legal reform proposals in their current form.

After voting, Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich issued a statement denouncing the protesters: “This was a violent siege on the Knesset, an attempt to prevent Members of Knesset (MK) from fulfilling their legal right and duty to vote. This was not an expression of democracy; it was our moment of storming Capitol Hill… The Left is not democratic for a long time now, and the Right is attempting to restore democracy to Israel.”

After the Bill passed, more angry protesters took to the streets, blocking causeways in Tel Aviv and central junctions countrywide.

In Kfar Saba, an angry driver accelerated and ploughed through a group of protesters that was blocking his route, injuring three. In another viral video, a young mother shouted at protesters blocking her car. Moments later, they had shattered her back windshield over her three little children in the backseat.

At night, Israel Medical Association declared a doctor’s strike for the next day, citing concerns of political intervention in their work. Labour Court dismissed the concerns as theoretical and issued an order to promptly end the strike. Israel’s labour laws stipulate that workers are required to provide a two-week notice prior to exercising their right to strike. The strike, which begun in the morning and stretched on for seven hours, left patients — who had major medical procedures postponed indefinitely after waiting in queue for months — reportedly furious.

All major newspapers featured a black front page on Tuesday morning. The small print stated that it was an ad paid for by hi-tech industry leaders.

The hardest blow landed with the evening, as Moody’s Investors Services issued a special report downgrading Israel’s economic forecast from Positive to Stable, citing the reforms as a sign that “Israel’s governance has deteriorated”. Concerns included risk of a constitutional crisis between the executive and judiciary, and possible security risks due to threats from pilots to stop reporting for training.

Game of cat and mouse

Dr. Yehudah Yifrah, legal correspondent at the Makor Rishon weekly, pointed out that the Bill passed on Monday will probably have no effect on the Supreme Court. In a recent verdict, Chief Justice Esther Hayut invoked the “Test of Narrow Proportionality” in a manner identical to Reasonability. In short, the game of cat and mouse between the judiciary and the executive will continue unhindered.

The reason the government began legislating the sweeping reforms with the reasonability clause is because it was deemed negligible. — Chief Justice Barak is on record saying, in an interview with Mr. Yifrah from 2019, that he saw no problem in modifying it. Opposition leader MK Yair Lapid had stated the same from the Knesset podium. However, both voiced uncompromising opposition to any reforms.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin and MK Simha Rothman introduced the reform proposals after the January elections. Both have been writing with strong conviction against ever-increasing judicial overreach since its historical moment of conception when, in 1992, Chief Justice Barak declared his “constitutional revolution”, implying that Israel had a judiciable constitution even if no official constitution was ever drafted.

Mr. Levin’s reforms were drafted in cooperation with the Kohelet Policy Forum, whose mission statement supports “individual liberty and free-markets, [and] Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people and representative democracy”.

Another faction supports reforms out of personal or communal interest. These are the ultra-Orthodox, who view the Supreme Court as a bastion of militant secularism dedicated to destroying their lifestyle. Their immediate concern was the court’s prolonged effort to annul their exemption from mandatory conscription. Equally conspicuous are individuals like MK David Amsalem, whose priority is to unshackle legal constraints on extensive cronyism in senior public office.

Support for protests

Anti-reform leadership is personified by Shikma Bressler, a particle physicist and member of the ‘Black Flags’ political activists who organised attempts to topple PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s 2020 government. When the reforms appeared, her movement rebranded itself with a dramatic escalation in rhetoric. She tweets regularly about mass no-show ultimatums among fighter pilots and elite tech units, claims which Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesmen say are false. The protests do enjoy widespread support from multiple sectors in Israel. Numerous former security establishment leaders, as well as a majority of the economic and academic establishment, have thrown their weight behind the cause.

Ms. Bressler’s cohorts are powerful elites who view themselves as high performers supporting the backward, unproductive sectors who support the Netanyahu government. Mr. Netanyahu’s voters see them as an extractive elite running an unaccountable deep state. They point to the fact that no anti-reform protester has been prosecuted as proof that they are held to be above the law.

Protests escalated rapidly, blocking major traffic arteries, train tracks and, briefly, even Israel’s only international airport. Slogans decried the “End of Democracy” and “Dictatorship”, and weekly “Disruption Day” protests swept up mainstream leftists who genuinely believe that the Supreme Court is the last line of defence for civil liberties they hold dear.

‘No compromise’

Some, like Ms. Bressler, are ardent secularists for whom the court embodies a civil religion. Their choice slogans warn of theocracy. And compromise is considered blasphemy. This mindset is one reason that high-profile attempts at compromise have failed, as opposition parliamentarians can’t be seen as negotiating catastrophe.

The passionate demonstrators firmly believe their efforts will see their names being etched in the annals of history as the saviours of Israeli democracy. However, many disagree with the protest’s ends and means.

Assaf Malach is a political philosopher organising academics who support the reforms. This led to a public feud with a leading Israeli sociologist declaring that Mr. Malach was “no longer my brother but my enemy”.

As the Bill passed, Mr. Malach posted on Facebook about his dissolution with protesters: “The Left is in state of aggressive, violent psychosis… Endangering the IDF and national defence for reasons not remotely connected to any doctrine of conscientious objection on the Left or Right… Doctors abandoning patients… People knowingly and intentionally harming the Israeli economy… Any legitimate fears can’t justify this anti-democratic behaviour… Their claims are primarily a rationalisation of anguish over their historical loss of control of selected bastions of power and losing the elections.”

Source link

#Torn #protests #judicial #reforms #Israel #seeks

Explained | Why has Israel plunged into a crisis?

Post By World , ,

People take part in a demonstration against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his nationalist coalition government’s judicial overhaul in Tel Aviv on July 29, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The story so far:

On July 24, Israel’s governing coalition passed a critical part of its judicial overhaul plan in the Knesset that would curtail the Supreme Court’s oversight powers of government decisions. The Bill was passed with 64 votes against zero in the 120-member Knesset with all Opposition members staging a walkout and thousands protesting outside Parliament. Israel has seen months of protests against the right-religious government’s plans to overhaul the judiciary. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed in March to delay the voting of the Bills amid mass protests and then held several rounds of talks with the Opposition. But as the talks collapsed, the government went ahead with the voting.

What was the Bill passed in the Knesset?

The Knesset legislation abolishes the “reasonable doctrine”, which the top court has often employed to assess key government decisions and ministerial appointments. Reasonableness is a legal standard used in several countries such as Australia, Canada and the U.K. by the top courts to assess the government’s decisions. In Israel, which does not have a written Constitution, courts cannot measure government decisions constitutionally but the reasonability doctrine has worked as a critical judicial check on executive decisions. The court could determine whether a government decision or a ministerial appointment is sensible and fair and nullify it if needed. For example, Mr. Netanyahu had to drop Aryeh Deri, leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas, as a Minister from his Cabinet earlier this year after the Supreme Court termed his appointment “highly unreasonable” due to previous convictions for bribery, fraud and various tax offences. Supporters of the government say the reasonability standard is too abstract and allows judicial overreach. Hence, they wanted to strike it down. Now that the doctrine has been scrapped, some local reports say Mr. Netanyahu might re-induct Mr. Deri into the Cabinet and take other controversial decisions.

What are the other proposals in the overhaul plan?

The original overhaul plan has different parts which together would strengthen the hands of the government over the courts. One of them was the abolition of the reasonability doctrine. Mr. Netanyahu’s government also proposed to curtail judicial review over legislation and then empower Parliament to override court decisions with an absolute majority of 61 votes (out of 120). The government also seeks to take greater control of judicial appointments. Under the current system, judges are chosen by a nine-member panel — three Supreme Court judges (including the court president), two members of the Israeli Bar Association, two members from Parliament and two from the government (Ministers). According to the proposed reforms, the members of the Bar Association would be replaced by two “public representatives” picked by the government, which means the government will have a majority of votes in the committee and decide on who should be the judges.


Editorial | Dangerous overhaul: On Israel’s judicial overhaul plan

Another proposal seeks to do away with the legal obligation for Ministers to follow the advice given by their legal advisers (which in turn are guided by the Attorney-General). After delaying the overhaul plan, Mr. Netanyahu entered into talks with the Opposition. In recent weeks, he had promised that he would not go ahead with the ‘override’ proposal. But after the Opposition quit talks with the government last month, Mr. Netanyahu went ahead with the reasonability doctrine Bill. The far-right parties in the coalition want other Bills also to be pushed through the Knesset.

Who is behind the overhaul?

Israel’s current government, composed of Likud (right-wing), United Torah Judaism and Shas (ultra-Orthodox) and Religious Zionist and Jewish Power (extreme right), is the most right-wing government in the country’s history. Over the years, Israel’s polity (and its Parliament) has shifted rightward, while the judiciary did not. The Right has criticised the judiciary for blocking its legislative and governmental pushes aimed at transforming Israeli society and expanding settlements in the Palestinian territories. Overhauling the judiciary (in other words, bringing the courts within the ambit of Parliament) has long been a right-wing agenda. Far-right leaders such as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have been pushing for the overhaul and Mr. Netanyahu, who himself is facing charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, has thrown his weight behind the plan.

The faces of the overhaul have been Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party colleague Yariv Levin, Minister of Justice, and Simcha Rotman of Religious Zionism, who is the chair of the Knesset’s Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee. The right-wing politicians were aided by Kohelet Policy Forum, a think tank backed by American and Israeli billionaires. For years, Kohelet, run by Moshe Koppel, who grew up in New York and moved to Israel in 1980, and Arthur Dantchik, another New Yorker who donated millions to the organisation, has worked on policy reforms in Israel. In 2019, Mr. Koppel claimed in an interview that “we are the brains behind Israel’s rightwing”. The organisation wants to “secure Israel’s future as the nation-state of the Jewish people, to strengthen representative democracy, and to broaden individual liberty and free-market principles in Israel.” Since January, Kohelet emerged as one of the principal architects of the judicial reforms”.

Why did it trigger protests?

Israel’s Opposition and civil society accuse the government of trying to undermine the country’s democracy from within. Though the trigger of the protests was the judicial plans, there are bigger questions at stake such as the country’s identity and tensions between liberal and Orthodox Jews. In a country which lacks a written Constitution and a powerful presidency, the only institutional check on the government is the judicial system. Critics fear that if that system is torn down, it would leave Israel’s government, controlled by rightwing and religious parties, very powerful, turning the country into a de facto authoritarian theocracy. Though the protests started from the liberal sections of society, it soon spread to different groups, including military reservists who are the “backbone” of the country’s military. The secular and liberal Jews, who sign up for their compulsory military training, feel that the ultra-Orthodox Jews, who refuse to serve in the military, will try to undermine the courts and hand more powers to religious parties and sections. But despite mounting pressure from both within and outside the country, Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition stood together this time. Mr. Netanyahu wants the smaller religious and far-right parties to stay in power. And the Orthodox and extreme right parties want Mr. Netanyahu to push their agenda. They are working together to transform Israel.

What can happen next?

Civil society groups have filed petitions in the Supreme Court asking it to strike down the legislation on the reasonability clause. The country’s top court has said that it would review the challenges, and asked the defendants to submit a response at least 10 days before the preliminary hearing. The Supreme Court has the power to review Knesset laws, but here the contradiction is that the law is on the Supreme Court’s powers. So the judges would be reviewing a law passed in Parliament that curtails their own powers. This sets the country on the path of a constitutional showdown. While the legal challenges would take time, it’s to be seen what Israel’s government would be doing with its newly acquired powers. The far-right wants to give military service exemption to religious Jews and expand settlements in the West Bank. They also want to introduce other parts of the judicial overhaul plan in the Knesset, irrespective of the protests and resistance from the Opposition.

Source link

#Explained #Israel #plunged #crisis

Israel battles quiet internal upheaval after passage of controversial bill on weakening Supreme Court

Post By World , , , ,

Angry protests following the passage of a controversial bill by Israel’s Parliament this week on a controversial bill that could limit the Supreme Court’s powers has given way to a quiet upheaval in the country with threats of mass emigration, resignations in critical positions, army desertions, strikes and flight of capital.

Israeli Parliament approved the contentious law that prevents judicial checks on political power and forms a key part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to reshape the country’s justice system, after weeks of unprecedented protests that have crippled the Jewish state.

The bill passed on Monday with 64 votes in favour and zero against it, with the opposition boycotting the final vote on the bill in protest.

It was the first major bill to pass in the government’s much-criticised judicial overhaul plans.

Multiple last-minute attempts within the Knesset (Israel’s Parliament) to amend the bill or to come to a broader procedural compromise with the opposition failed.

Credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday warned about “negative consequences” and “significant risk” for Israel’s economy and security situation following the passage of the first bill.

Moody’s had in April lowered Israel’s credit outlook from “positive” to “stable,” citing a “deterioration of Israel’s governance” and upheaval over the government’s bid to dramatically overhaul the judiciary.

“More specifically, we believe the wide-ranging nature of the government’s proposals could materially weaken the judiciary’s independence and disrupt effective checks and balances between the various branches of government, which are important aspects of strong institutions,” Moody’s noted.

“Israel has no written constitution and its institutional set-up relies to an important extent on judicial oversight and review,” it said adding, “The executive and legislative institutions have become less predictable and more willing to create significant risks to economic and social stability”.

Moody’s also pointed out that some of its earlier concerns regarding the proposed reforms’ impact on Israel’s economy are also starting to materialise.

Moody’s still expects the country’s economy to grow at a rate of 3 per cent both this year and in 2024, but cautioned that the projection does not “incorporate a negative effect from a prolonged period of social and political tensions”.

Unfazed by the critical report by the global credit rating agency, the government put out a statement rebuffing it as a “momentary response” adding that when the “dust settles it will become clear that Israel’s economy is very strong”.

“The Israeli economy is based on strong fundamentals and will continue to grow under experienced leadership that is enacting a responsible economic policy,” read the joint statement by Prime Minister Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

US investment bank Morgan Stanley on Tuesday lowered Israel’s sovereign credit to a “dislike stance” citing “increased uncertainty about the economic outlook in the coming months”, Times of Israel reported.

US bank Citi told institutional clients that the environment in Israel is “much more tricky and dangerous”, advising investors to hold off until the dust settles, the news portal said.

“The current events in Israel are challenging… and making investors increasingly nervous with regards to Israeli assets,” Citi VP Michael Wiesen was quoted to have written in a note.

“We urge caution here and to wait for better levels/calmer market”, he reportedly said.

Israeli shares turned to losses and the shekel weakened on Monday as angry protesters took over the streets following the passage of the bill.

Almost 70 per cent of Israeli startups are taking active steps to pull money and shift parts of their businesses outside the country due to the uncertainty created around the proposed judicial overhaul, a survey by Start-Up Nation Central, which tracks the local tech ecosystem, was cited in local media as saying.

The findings of the survey showed that 68 per cent of Israeli startups have started to take “legal and financial steps,” including the withdrawal of cash reserves, moving their headquarters outside of Israel, relocating employees and conducting layoffs.

Overall, 78 per cent of the surveyed startup executives reported that the government’s controversial plan to weaken the country’s judicial system is “negatively” impacting their operations, and 84 per cent of venture capital investors said it has a negative influence on their portfolio companies.

“Companies and investors are taking active steps to move activity away from Israel and this behaviour has increased significantly over the past three months,” Start-Up Nation Central CEO, Avi Hasson, was quoted as saying.

“Concerning trends like registering a company abroad or launching new startups outside Israel will be hard to reverse,” Hasson said.

Another survey carried out on Tuesday found that nearly one-third of Israelis are considering leaving the country.

The Channel 13 poll found that 28 per cent of the respondents were weighing a move abroad, 64 per cent were not, and 8 per cent were unsure.

Over half of the survey’s respondents, 54 per cent, said that they feared the judicial overhaul was harming Israel’s security, and 56 per cent were worried about civil war.

The poll carried out by pollster Camille Fuchs queried 711 respondents and had a margin of error of 3.7 per cent.

Meanwhile, security-related concerns in the country have also deepened with threats from various quarters.

Several senior scientists on the Israel Atomic Energy Commission have threatened to resign to protest the government’s judicial overhaul, as per local media reports on Tuesday.

The scientists are among several dozen experts who are “responsible for the development of Israel’s nuclear capability,” Channel 13 reported, referring to foreign reports about the Jewish state’s alleged nuclear weapons arsenal.

Israel maintains ambiguity regarding its nuclear capabilities.

The report, which did not cite sources, said the scientists had been discussing their possible resignations in recent weeks, but there was no collective protest action, and that each of the scientists would decide on the matter individually.

The military warned on Tuesday that combat readiness may soon be harmed if reservist troops do not show up for duty over a lengthy period of time, amid efforts to insulate the army from national tensions over the government’s controversial judicial overhaul.

Thousands of reservists have threatened to end their volunteer reserve duty in protest of the overhaul in recent weeks, forcing Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, to issue a rare video statement on Tuesday calling for unity within the military.

The IDF has said that the “cohesion” or unity of the forces has already been harmed amid the protests against the judicial overhaul, and “it will take time to fix”.

The army however claimed it is still fully battle-ready even though harm to the IDF’s readiness has already begun.

Should the thousands of reservists in key positions continue to not show up for duty, actual damage to the IDF’s “competence” may occur within weeks, security officials said.

“At the current point in time, the IDF is competent. There was an increase in requests to end reserve service, and alongside this, there is a dialogue between commanders and service members,” military spokesman Rear Adm Daniel Hagari told reporters.

“If reservists do not report for duty for a long time, there will be damage to the army’s competence. This is a gradual process that will be affected according to the reporting for duty of the reservists,” he added.

There have been at least two isolated cases of reservists not showing up for duty when ordered to, according to the IDF.

One was handed a NIS 1,000 (USD 270) fine and the other was given a 15-day suspended jail sentence, media reports said.

Some 1,200 Israeli Air Force reservists in a letter on Tuesday reportedly announced their intention to end their volunteer service.

According to a report, 60 per cent of them are said to have notified their commanders that they would no longer show up for duty.

Reservists not showing up for volunteer service have not faced any disciplinary action.

Israel’s famed espionage agency Mossad has also reportedly seen “high tensions” internally over the issue.

Mossad Director David Barnea was widely quoted in the international media as saying that if the government goes the wrong way, his agency will come out on the right side of history.

On Monday, Barnea said that the government’s repeal of the reasonableness standard had not crossed the line into bringing the agency into a legal dilemma, but if such a point arrived it would always remain loyal first to the rule of law, The Jerusalem Post reported.

All the six living former chiefs of the spy agency have explicitly opposed the reasonableness standard repeal with five of them holding Netanyahu responsible for tearing the nation apart.

Organisers of protests against the government’s Judicial overhaul initiative have vowed to “fight till the finish” after having successfully organised mass rallies for 29 consecutive weeks since the beginning of the year.

Source link

#Israel #battles #quiet #internal #upheaval #passage #controversial #bill #weakening #Supreme #Court

Israeli PM Netanyahu freezes judicial overhaul, urges protesters to behave responsibly

Post By World , , , ,

Embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on March 27 that he would temporarily freeze his controversial judicial overhaul plans to seek a compromise following unprecedented demonstrations and a general strike that paralysed the Jewish nation.

Mr. Netanyahu, 73, said that he ordered “the timeout” on the contentious legislation until after the Knesset (Parliament) recess in order “to give a real opportunity for real dialogue”.

“One thing I am not willing to accept — there are a minority of extremists that are willing to tear our country to shreds… escorting us to civil war and calling for refusal of army service, which is a terrible crime,” the Israeli Prime Minister said.

Drawing analogy from the story of King Solomon from about 3,000 years ago when two women reached out with the claim over a baby boy and the king said to divide the infant in two halves to ascertain the real mother, Mr. Netanyahu said that he would not let that happen to Israel in his watch.

“When there’s an option to avoid civil war through dialogue, I take a time-out for dialogue…. out of national responsibility,” Mr. Netanyahu said, asserting that most of his coalition members backed the “reforms” and he could have done it if he wished so.

President Isaac Herzog said, “Stopping the legislation is the right thing. This is the time to begin a sincere, serious, and responsible dialogue that will urgently calm the waters and lower the flames.

“I call on everyone to act responsibly. Protests and demonstrations, on whichever side – yes. Violence – absolutely not! If one side wins, the state will lose. We must remain one people and one state – Jewish and democratic,” the President said.

“For the sake of our unity and for the sake of our children’s future, we must start talking, here and now. The President’s residence, the people’s home, is a space for dialogue and the formation of as broad agreements as possible, with the aim of extracting our beloved State of Israel from the deep crisis that we are in. And you gave peace in the Land, and eternal joy to its inhabitants,” Mr. Herzog added.

Mr. Netanyahu earlier on Monday urged protesters “to behave responsibly and refrain from violence” as Israelis from all over the country started descending into Jerusalem and workers from a range of sectors joined a protest movement against the government’s contentious plan.

Mr. Netanyahu’s appeal came hours after Mr. Herzog on Monday appealed to him to immediately halt his controversial judicial overhaul, warning that the move has put the country’s security, economy and society under threat.

Mr. Netanyahu in his first public statement since widespread demonstrations erupted in reaction to his sacking of the defence minister has urged protesters, from the left and right, “to behave responsibly and refrain from violence.” As Israelis from all over the country started descending into Jerusalem, in a tweet Mr. Netanyahu appeared to address fears of violent clashes this evening between opponents and supporters of the government’s judicial overhaul plan.

“All of us are brothers and sisters,” Mr. Netanyahu stressed in his tweet.

President Herzog’s appeal to Mr. Netanyahu came after the Prime Minister sacked Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for opposing his judicial reforms, sparking widespread street protests. The President also called on the government to put aside political considerations for the sake of the nation.

“Last night we witnessed very difficult scenes. I appeal to the Prime Minister, members of the Government, and members of the Coalition: there are harsh and painful feelings. The entire nation is rapt with deep worry,” Mr. Herzog said.

“Our security, economy, society — all are under threat. The whole people of Israel are looking at you. The whole Jewish People are looking at you. The whole world is looking at you,” the ceremonial President in a statement.

“For the sake of the unity of the People of Israel, for the sake of the necessary responsibility, I call on you to halt the legislative process immediately,” he emphasised.

He urged all the leaders in power to place the country’s citizens above all else.

“I appeal to the leaders of all Knesset factions, Coalition and Opposition alike, to place this country’s citizens above all else and to act with courage and responsibility without further delay. Wake up now! This is not a political moment; this is a moment for leadership and responsibility,” the President asserted.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Israel on Sunday night after Mr. Netanyahu fired Defence Minister Gallant after he said on Saturday that the judicial overhaul “poses a clear, immediate, and tangible threat to the security of the state”.

Irked by the televised speech given by Gallant, the Prime Minister’s Office in a terse statement Sunday evening said “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided, this evening [Sunday, 26 March 2023], to dismiss Defence Minister Yoav Gallant”.

The announcement led to a spontaneous and unprecedented outburst of anger against the country’s longest-serving prime minister.

An unconfirmed Channel 12 report said that 6,00,000-7,00,000 Israelis were demonstrating late on Sunday across the country, with protests reported from Kiryat Shmona in the north to Eilat in the south.

Protesters in Tel Aviv blocked a main highway and lit large bonfires, while police scuffled with protesters who gathered outside Mr. Netanyahu’s private home in Jerusalem.

The unrest sparked by Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s proposals to shake up the judiciary by severely curbing the High Court of Justice’s judicial review powers and the government’s efforts to cement political control over the appointment of judges has met with resistance not only in the streets of the country but also abroad with thousands of Jewish diaspora members protesting during Mr. Netanyahu’s visits to Italy, Germany and the U.K.

The protests have alarmed business leaders, former security chiefs and drawn concern from Israel’s close allies, including the United States.

The country has also seen economic disruption with talk of a “flight of capital” and hi-tech leaders and firms.

Arnon Bar-David, the head of Israel’s largest labour federation Histadrut, on Monday announced a “historic” labour strike in an attempt to “stop the madness” of the government’s controversial judicial overhaul.

“We are all worried about Israel’s fate,” Mr. Bar-David says. “Together we say, enough! We have lost our way — this is not about left or right. We can no longer polarise the nation,” the union head was quoted as saying in The Times of Israel newspaper.

Mr. Bar-David said the strike will begin as soon as Monday if Prime Minister Netanyahu does not announce a halt to the judicial overhaul.

Israel’s main airport Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv on Monday announced an immediate halt to all departing flights, minutes after the head of the Histadrut announced the “historic” labour strike.

The Histadrut also instructed all government employees to go on strike, including in all of Israel’s diplomatic missions around the world, the paper reported.

Citing a spokesperson for Israel’s Embassy in the United States, it confirmed that the mission has shut down until further notice.

The National Student and Youth Council, representing the high school and middle school students, declared a nationwide strike to start on Monday morning.

The council has called for “halting the [overhaul] legislation and starting negotiations immediately”.

Two protesters entered the Knesset building and shouted at Education Minister Yoav Kisch that he should resign. They were quickly bundled away by security guards.

As protests intensified accompanied by an unforeseen display of anger, some Likud Ministers relented, beginning to show their willingness to compromise.

Culture Minister Micky Zohar, a Netanyahu confidant, said the party would support him if he decided to pause the judicial overhaul.

Protest organisers, mostly common people with no declared political affiliation, continued to push for further demonstrations on Monday.

Political analysts see the development as a “grassroots movement” beyond the control of any political formation. The opposition though has been fully supportive and participating in the protests.

Legislation, which many argue is aimed at establishing executive supremacy over the judiciary, making it subservient to the government, is slated to come for the final readings this week in the Knesset.

Seen at the receiving end of international ire, including a rebuke from U.S. President Joe Biden, Mr. Netanyahu has looked weak and perplexed but also hesitant to step back from the proposed “reforms” because of fear of backlash within his ruling Likud party.

Source link

#Israeli #Netanyahu #freezes #judicial #overhaul #urges #protesters #behave #responsibly

Israeli President urges PM Netanyahu to halt legal overhaul; mass protests, strike ramp up pressure

Post By World , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Workers from a range of sectors in Israel launched a nationwide strike on March 27, threatening to paralyse the economy as they joined a surging protest movement against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the judiciary.Tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated outside parliament and workers launched a nationwide strike on Monday, as a surging mass protest movement threatened to paralyze the economy in its efforts to halt Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the judiciary.

Departing flights from the country’s main international airport were grounded, large mall chains and universities shut their doors, and Israel’s largest trade union called for its 800,000 members — in health, transit, banking and other fields — to stop work. Diplomats walked off the job at foreign missions, local governments were expected to close the preschools they run and cut other services, and the main doctors union announced its members would also strike.

The growing resistance to Netanyahu’s plan came hours after tens of thousands of people burst into the streets around the country in a spontaneous show of anger at the prime minister’s decision to fire his defense minister after he called for a pause to the overhaul. Chanting “the country is on fire,” they lit bonfires on Tel Aviv’s main highway, closing the thoroughfare and many others throughout the country for hours.

Demonstrators gathered again Monday outside the Knesset, or parliament, turning the streets surrounding the building and the Supreme Court into a roiling sea of blue-and-white Israeli flags dotted with rainbow Pride banners. Large demonstrations in Tel Aviv, Haifa and other Israeli cities drew thousands more.

“This is the last chance to stop this move into a dictatorship,” said Matityahu Sperber, 68, who joined a stream of people headed to the protest outside the Knesset. “I’m here for the fight to the end.”

Also Read | Israel passes law protecting Netanyahu as protests continue

It was unclear how Netanyahu would respond to the growing pressure. Some members of Netanyahu’s Likud party said they would support the prime minister if he did heed calls to halt the overhaul, while Israeli media, citing unnamed sources, reported that he could indeed pause it.

The plan — driven by Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, and his allies in Israel’s most right-wing government ever — has plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises. It has sparked sustained protests that have galvanized nearly all sectors of society, including its military, where reservists have increasingly come out publicly to say they will not serve a country veering toward autocracy.

Israel’s Palestinian citizens, however, have largely sat out the protests. Many say Israel’s democracy is tarnished by its military rule over their brethren in the West Bank and the discrimination they themselves face.

The turmoil has magnified longstanding and intractable differences over Israel’s character that have riven it since its establishment. The protesters say they are fighting for the very soul of the nation, saying the overhaul will remove Israel’s system of checks and balances and directly challenge its democratic ideals.

The government has labelled them anarchists out to topple a democratically elected leadership and says the plan will restore a balance between the judicial and executive branches and rein in what they see as an interventionist court with liberal sympathies.

At the center of the crisis is Netanyahu himself, Israel’s longest serving leader, and questions about the lengths he may be willing to go to maintain his grip on power, even as he battles charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate affairs. He denies wrongdoing.

On Monday afternoon, Netanyahu issued his first statement since he fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, urging against violence ahead of a planned counterprotest in Jerusalem organized by ultranationalist supporters of the judicial overhaul.

The counterprotest was also slated to take place outside parliament. “They won’t steal the election from us,” read a flyer for event, organized by Religious Zionist party.

“I call on all protesters in Jerusalem, right and left, to behave responsibly and not act violently,” Netanyahu wrote on Twitter.

The firing of Netanyahu’s defense minister at a time of heightened security threats in the West Bank and elsewhere, appeared to be a last straw for many, including apparently the Histadrut, the country’s largest trade union umbrella group, which had sat out the monthslong protests before the defense minister’s firing.

“Where are we leading our beloved Israel? To the abyss,” Arnon Bar-David, the group’s head, said in a rousing speech to applause. “Today we are stopping everyone’s descent toward the abyss.”

On Monday, as the embers of the highway bonfires were cleared, Israel’s ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, called again for an immediate halt to the overhaul.

“The entire nation is rapt with deep worry. Our security, economy, society — all are under threat,” he said. “Wake up now!”

Also Read | Israeli group asks court to punish PM Netanyahu over legal plan

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said the crisis was driving Israel to the brink.

“We’ve never been closer to falling apart. Our national security is at risk, our economy is crumbling, our foreign relations are at their lowest point ever, we don’t know what to say to our children about their future in this country,” Lapid said.

The developments were being watched by the Biden administration, which is closely allied with Israel yet has been uneasy with Netanyahu and the far-right elements of his government. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the United States was “deeply concerned” by the developments.

Netanyahu had reportedly spent the night in consultations and was set to speak to the nation, but later delayed his speech.

The architect of the plan, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, a popular party member, had long promised he would resign if the overhaul was suspended. But on Monday, he said he would respect the prime minister’s decision should he halt the legislation.

Still, Netanyahu’s hard-line allies pressed him to continue on. “We must not halt the reform in the judicial system, and we must not give in to anarchy,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said.

Netanyahu’s dismissal of Gallant appeared to signal that the prime minister and his allies would barrel ahead. Gallant had been the first senior member of the ruling Likud party to speak out against it, saying the deep divisions were threatening to weaken the military.

And Netanyahu’s government forged ahead with a centerpiece of the overhaul — a law that would give the governing coalition the final say over all judicial appointments. A parliamentary committee approved the legislation on Monday for a final vote, which could come this week.

The government also seeks to pass laws that would would grant the Knesset the authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit judicial review of laws.

A separate law that would circumvent a Supreme Court ruling to allow a key coalition ally to serve as minister was delayed following a request from that party’s leader.

Netanyahu returned to power late last year after a protracted political crisis that sent Israelis to the polls five times in less than four years. The elections were all a referendum on Netanyahu’s fitness to serve while on trial for corruption.

Source link

#Israeli #President #urges #Netanyahu #halt #legal #overhaul #mass #protests #strike #ramp #pressure

Israel passes law protecting Netanyahu as protests continue

Post By World , , ,

Israel’s Parliament on Thursday passed the first of several laws that make up its contentious judicial overhaul as protesters opposing the changes staged another day of demonstrations aimed at raising alarm over what they see as the country’s descent toward autocracy.

Thousands of people protested throughout the country, blocking traffic on main highways and scuffling with police in unrest that shows no sign of abating, especially as the overhaul moves ahead.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition approved legislation that would protect the Israeli leader from being deemed unfit to rule because of his corruption trial and claims of a conflict of interest surrounding his involvement in the legal changes. Critics say the law is tailor-made for Mr. Netanyahu, encourages corruption and deepens a gaping chasm between Israelis over the judicial overhaul.

The legal changes have split the nation between those who see the new policies as stripping Israel of its democratic ideals and those who think the country has been overrun by a liberal judiciary. The government’s plan has plunged the nearly 75-year-old nation into one of its worst domestic crises.

“Either Israel will be a Jewish, democratic and progressive state or religious, totalitarian, failing, isolated and closed off. That’s where they are leading us,” Tzipi Livni, a former Foreign Minister and a prominent supporter of the protest movement, told Israeli Army Radio.

The opposition is rooted in broad swaths of society — including business leaders and top legal officials. Even the country’s military, seen as a beacon of stability by Israel’s Jewish majority, is enmeshed in the political conflict, as some reservists are refusing to show up for duty over the changes. Israel’s international allies have also expressed concern.

The law to protect Mr. Netanyahu passed in an early morning vote 61-47 in Israel’s 120-seat Knesset, or Parliament, after a debate that ran through the night. Mr. Netanyahu, seated by his Justice Minister, and the overhaul’s architect, Yariv Levin, was seen smirking during the vote.

It stipulates that a Prime Minister can only be deemed unfit to rule for health or mental reasons and that only he or his government can make that decision. It comes after the country’s attorney general has faced growing calls by Mr. Netanyahu opponents to declare him unfit to rule over his legal problems. The attorney general has already barred Mr. Netanyahu from involvement in the legal overhaul, saying he is at risk of a conflict of interest because of his corruption trial.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, a good governance organisation, said it was challenging the law in court, in what could set up the first showdown between judges and the government over the legal changes. Experts say the overhaul could set off a constitutional crisis that would leave Israel in chaos over who should be obeyed, the government or the courts.

On Thursday, protesters launched a fourth midweek day of demonstrations. They blocked major thoroughfares, set tires ablaze near an important seaport and draped a large Israeli flag and a banner with the country’s Declaration of Independence over the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City. The police said they made several arrests around the country. Several protest leaders were among those arrested, organisers said.

Protesters blocked the main highway in seaside Tel Aviv and police used water cannon to disperse demonstrators in that city and Haifa in the north.

Mr. Netanyahu called on Opposition leaders to “stop the anarchy immediately,” after what he said was an attack on Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter, a former head of the Shin Bet domestic security agency.

Video on social media showed a protester swiping her flagpole in Dichter’s direction, hitting him once on the head, but he appeared unharmed and continued walking. A spokesman for Dichter said the flagpole tapped his head lightly and that the protester also smacked his car with it.

A protest was planned later in the day in a large ultra-Orthodox city near Tel Aviv. The demonstration’s organisers say the demonstration there is meant to drive home to that community that their rights are in danger under the overhaul. Ultra-Orthodox leaders see the demonstration in their midst as provocative.

The overhaul crisis has magnified a longstanding rift between secular Jewish Israelis and religious ones over how much of a role religion should play in their day-to-day lives. Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers in government are central drivers of the overhaul because they believe the courts are a threat to their traditional way of life. In contrast, secular opponents to the changes fear they will open the door to religious coercion.

In addition to Thursday’s demonstrations, tens of thousands of people have been showing up for weekly protests each Saturday night for more than two months.

Mr. Netanyahu’s government rejected a compromise proposal earlier this month meant to ease the crisis. It said that it would slow the pace of the changes, pushing most of them to after a monthlong parliamentary recess in April.

But the government was plowing forward on a key part of the overhaul, which would grant the government control over who becomes a judge. The government says it amended the original bill to make the law more inclusive, but opponents rejected the move, saying the change was cosmetic and would maintain the government’s grip over the appointment of judges. The measure was expected to pass next week.

Mr. Netanyahu is on trial for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of scandals involving wealthy associates and powerful media moguls. He denies wrongdoing and dismisses critics who say he could find an escape route from the charges through the legal overhaul his government is advancing.

The government says the changes are necessary to restore a balance between the executive and judicial branches, which they say has become too interventionist in the way the country is run.

Critics say the government, Israel’s most right-wing ever, is pushing the country toward authoritarianism with its overhaul, which they say upends the country’s fragile system of checks and balances.

Rights groups and Palestinians say Israel’s democratic ideals have long been tarnished by the country’s 55-year, open-ended occupation of lands the Palestinians seek for an independent state and the treatment of Palestinian Israeli citizens, who face discrimination in many spheres.

Source link

#Israel #passes #law #protecting #Netanyahu #protests #continue