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White House calls passage of Israel’s first judicial reform bill ‘unfortunate’
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Biden administration said the Israeli government’s decision Monday to restrict the Supreme Court’s ability to strike down laws was “unfortunate” and said the United States remains hopeful that there can be compromise ahead.
“As a lifelong friend of Israel, President Biden has publicly and privately expressed his views that major changes in a democracy to be enduring must have as broad a consensus as possible,” Joe Biden’s spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday in the statement just after the 64-0 vote. “It is unfortunate that the vote today took place with the slimmest possible majority.”
The entire opposition in the 120-member body boycotted the vote in the face of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to delay the proceedings while the sides sought compromise.
“We understand talks are ongoing and likely to continue over the coming weeks and months to forge a broader compromise even with the Knesset in recess,” Jean-Pierre said. “The United States will continue to support the efforts of President Herzog and other Israeli leaders as they seek to build a broader consensus through political dialogue.” President Isaac Herzog met with Biden last week and discussed Netanyahu’s proposed overhaul of Israel’s judiciary.
Top Democrats close to the mainstream pro-Israel community sounded similar warnings. “Legitimate checks-and-balances are essential in all democracies,” Sen. Ben Cardin, a Jewish Maryland Democrat who has championed pro-Israel positions for decades in Congress, said on Twitter.
“The Knesset vote today for a law stripping the Israeli Supreme Court of its power to block government decisions is contrary to democratic values,” Cardin said. “I implore Netanyahu to support the core values that have enabled Israel to flourish and grow.”
Rep. Jerry Nadler, a New York Jewish Democrat who is the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said the vote “desecrates judicial independence” and is a “dark day for Israeli democracy.” Nonetheless, he hoped that it presented an opportunity “to continue fighting for a democratic Israel.”
The vote came as massive protests clogged Israel’s main roads and cities and some military reservists and other critical personnel said they could no longer serve in good conscience. Opponents of the overhaul say the court’s ability to review and reverse legislations stand as a bulwark protecting vulnerable populations in a political system lacking a constitution, with a unicameral legislature and no distinction between the executive and legislative branches.
Proponents of the law say it corrects the overreach of a Supreme Court that is out of step with Israeli sentiment. The legislation approved Monday is part of a broader package introduced earlier this year; Netanyahu said Monday, after the Knesset vote, that he would be open to negotiations on the other elements.
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The post White House calls passage of Israel’s first judicial reform bill ‘unfortunate’ appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Rights Group Files Lawsuit to Block Trump Deportations of Anti-Israel Protesters
Marco Rubio speaks after he is sworn in as Secretary of State by US Vice President JD Vance at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC, Jan. 21, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) filed a lawsuit challenging as unconstitutional the Trump administration’s actions to deport international students and scholars who protest or express support for Palestinian rights.
The lawsuit, filed on Saturday in the US District Court for the Northern District of New York, seeks a nationwide temporary restraining order to block enforcement of two executive orders signed by US President Donald Trump in the first month of his term.
The lawsuit comes after the detention of a Columbia University student, Mahmoud Khalil, a 30-year-old permanent US resident of Palestinian descent, whose arrest sparked protests this month.
Justice Department lawyers have argued that the US government is seeking Khalil’s removal because Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reasonable grounds to believe his activities or presence in the country could have “serious adverse foreign policy consequences.” Rubio on Friday said the United States will likely revoke visas of more students in the coming days.
Trump vowed to deport activists who took part in protests on US college campuses against Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza following the October 2023 attack by the Palestinian terrorists.
The ADC lawsuit was filed on behalf of two graduate students and a professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, who say their activism and support of the Palestinian people “has put them at serious risk of political persecution.”
“This lawsuit is a necessary step to preserve our most fundamental constitutional protections. The First Amendment guarantees the freedom of speech and expression to all persons within the United States, without exception,” said Abed Ayoub, national executive director of the ADC.
Chris Godshall-Bennett, the group’s legal director, said the litigation seeks immediate and long-term relief “to protect international students from any unconstitutional overreach that stifles free expression and deters them from fully engaging in academic and public discourse.”
The lawsuit centers on three Cornell University plaintiffs: a British-Gambian national and PhD student with a student visa; a US citizen PhD student working on plant science; and a US citizen novelist, poet, and professor in the Department of Literatures in English.
The post Rights Group Files Lawsuit to Block Trump Deportations of Anti-Israel Protesters first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Netanyahu Informs Shin Bet Chief to Vote on His Dismissal Next Week
Israel’s Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar speaks at Reichman University in Herzliya on Sunday, September 11, 2022. Photo: Screenshot
i24 News – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet security agency, that he will bring a vote before his government to dismiss him next week.
The post Netanyahu Informs Shin Bet Chief to Vote on His Dismissal Next Week first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Houthis Claim to Attack US Aircraft Carrier, Retaliating for Strikes
Newly recruited fighters who joined a Houthi military force intended to be sent to fight in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, march during a parade in Sanaa, Yemen, Dec. 2, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
i24 News – The Houthis claimed on Sunday that they targeted the aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman and other vessels in the northern Red Sea with 18 ballistic and cruise missiles and a drone. Military spokesperson Yahya Saree said that the US-led attacks against the Houthis on Saturday comprised of more than 47 airstrikes on seven governorates, with the death toll expected to rise.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces will not hesitate to target all American warships in the Red Sea and in the Arabian Sea in retaliation to the aggression against our country,” Saree said, vowing the Houthis “will continue to impose a naval blockade on the Israeli enemy and ban its ships in the declared zone of operations until aid and basic needs are delivered to the Gaza Strip.”
The post Houthis Claim to Attack US Aircraft Carrier, Retaliating for Strikes first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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