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Netanyahu to advance partial version of Israel’s judicial overhaul as protests continue
(JTA) — The Israeli government is poised to advance its proposal to weaken the country’s Supreme Court, even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had dropped the plan’s most prominent provision.
The renewed legislative effort comes amid continued street protests against the proposed reform, which have taken place at least weekly since the beginning of this year. Widespread demonstrations in March — in addition to other threats of civil disobedience — led to a pause in the advance of the reforms and sparked negotiations between the governing coalition and opposition over the legislation’s content.
Those talks appear to have broken down, and now Netanyahu’s government appears ready to bring some of the bills back to the floor of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset. His coalition, which includes far-right parties, holds 64 of the Knesset’s 120 seats.
But according to Netanyahu, the reform will return to the table absent its most contentious provision, which would have allowed a bare majority of lawmakers to override Supreme Court decisions striking down laws. That proposal, known as the override clause, was at the heart of critics’ claims that the judicial overhaul would endanger Israeli democracy by sapping the court of its power. In an interview last week with the Wall Street Journal, Netanyahu said the override clause was “out” of the legislative package.
Instead, lawmakers will focus on passing a law that limits the Supreme Court’s ability to strike down governmental decisions it concludes are “unreasonable.” Earlier this year, the court used that justification to bar Aryeh Deri, a leading haredi Orthodox politician who has been repeatedly convicted of crimes, from being appointed to Netanyahu’s cabinet.
The legislation currently under consideration would reportedly strip the court of the power to strike down the decisions of nationally elected officials due to “unreasonableness.” The doctrine could still be used to strike down decisions of unelected government officials and local officials such as mayors, according to the Israeli publication Ynet.
Netanyahu also pledged to advance a bill changing the makeup of the committee that appoints judges, a key portion of the proposed overhaul. A previous version of that bill would have given the governing coalition full control over judicial appointments, but Netanyahu said the new bill would be more limited.
He did not say anything about a piece of the reforms that passed one hurdle in February but has not advanced since. That legislation would bar the Supreme Court from striking down “basic laws,” Israel’s closest parallel to a constitution, in a move that some observers said could render the broader override clause unneeded.
Netanyahu’s pledges appear to have had limited effect on opponents of the overhaul. Gali Baharav-Miara, the Israeli attorney general, called the proposed “unreasonableness” law “a black hole that will damage democracy.”
Protest organizers said hundreds of thousands of people attended this weekend’s demonstrations, which took place across the country on Saturday night for the 26th week in a row. Protesters also vowed to gather at Ben-Gurion Airport’s bustling third terminal on Monday in protest of the overhaul. Police cautioned protesters against blocking the roads surrounding the airport, which a senior official characterized as a security risk.
Meanwhile, some of his right-wing allies in the government expressed disappointment about Netanyahu’s comments.
“Surrendering to those who burn the Ayalon and call for civil unrest is a victory for violence and a loss for Israel,” tweeted Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister, referring to the Tel Aviv highway that has been a locus of protests.
Netanyahu’s statements garnered praise from the Jewish Federations of North America, which said it was “encouraged” by his pledge to drop the override clause. The group had come out against the override legislation earlier this year, and said in a statement on Thursday that “any reforms must leave intact a strong system of checks and balances, which is key to the democratic pillar of protecting minority rights.”
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The post Netanyahu to advance partial version of Israel’s judicial overhaul as protests continue appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Treasure Trove: An Israeli stamp reflects the complex mix of emotions about Oct. 7
Michelle Shalmiev was born in a village in the Caucasian mountains and immigrated to Israel and settled on a kibbutz when she was 14. Her series “Putting Your Stamp on History” […]
The post Treasure Trove: An Israeli stamp reflects the complex mix of emotions about Oct. 7 appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Download a special Oct. 7 print edition of The Canadian Jewish News
Printable obituaries of eight Canadian victims and more of our original coverage.
The post Download a special Oct. 7 print edition of The Canadian Jewish News appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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The Jewish People Perform Another Miracle
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is seen addressing supporters, in Beirut, Lebanon. Photo: Reuters.
JNS.org – This Oct. 7 will not only be an anniversary of tears, of pure contrition, even if the memory is burning as the people of Israel live. As to how, it wasn’t at all obvious. Our whole history is made of miracles—from the splitting of the sea to escape from the Egyptians to the Inquisition to the pogroms to the thousand other genocidal attacks to which the Jews have been subjected. In every case, the results are always incredible and surprising, especially for how we have emerged active, faithful to our Torah tradition and committed to the return to Jerusalem until we made it happen.
The War of Independence in 1948 was fought by concentration-camp veterans, yet we defeated all the Arab armies, united in hatred, who marched against us. Later, in 1967, 1973 wars were won by a hair’s breadth with miraculous strokes of imagination and leaders who gave birth to ideas that people would have expected. No one would have ever bet a euro, penny or shekel on the idea that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and his entire hierarchy could be eliminated, petrifying Iran, especially since we have already reduced its other favorite proxy, Hamas, to pieces. And now we have bombed Iran’s other proxy, the Houthis, some 2,000 kilometers away, destroying the airport from which they receive their weapons and aid from the ayatollahs. The Islamic Republic’s leader, Ali Khamenei, is reportedly hiding underground, the Iraqi and Syrian Shi’ites are waiting to see if they are next, and cities controlled by Tehran are shaking.
As President Joe Biden said, it is a measure of justice, but one that Israel has undertaken in an impossible fashion, defending its citizens amid a thousand prohibitions with determination and without fear. Only in this way can a 76-year-old young state, which has been attacked from all sides, defend itself. The country’s existence is the latest chapter in the history of a people born many millennia ago in the Land of Israel, who are finally back home and defending their state.
The war is certainly not over, as Hezbollah reportedly had 100,000 fighters. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows that he must see this fight through to the end, despite the international pressure to which Israel has been subjected for nearly a year. Israel’s leadership understands that its very existence is at definitive risk if there is no “new Middle East” in the aftermath of Oct. 7.
While previous generations and Israeli leaders hoped that peace agreements would establish peace in the region, today’s leaders know that there is also a need for battle to stop those who, dominated by absurd fanatical and religious beliefs, wish to kill you. (After all, what do the Houthi rebels in Yemen have to do with the Jews and Israel?)
This is the lesson of our time—not just for Israel and the Jewish people but for everyone. The Jewish people are writing a new page in history, one in which the free world must write and fight alongside them, as it is a battle for the survival of Western ideals. Israel has eliminated the two most dangerous terrorist groups in the world—Hamas and Hezbollah—with operations that will set a precedent for decades. And it challenges Iran. I would like to hear the applause, please.
The post The Jewish People Perform Another Miracle first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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