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Biden weighs in on Israel’s proposed judiciary changes: ‘Genius’ of democracy includes ‘independent judiciary’
(JTA) — President Joe Biden has weighed in against the Israeli government’s proposed judicial reforms, saying that an independent judiciary is part of “the genius of American democracy and Israeli democracy.”
Biden made the comments in a 46-word statement Saturday to New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, a longtime chronicler of the U.S.-Israel relationship. “This is the first time I can recall a U.S. president has ever weighed in on an internal Israeli debate about the very character of the country’s democracy,” Friedman wrote in his column.
Until now, Biden had not commented on the judiciary proposals, even as a growing number of prominent and often typically nonpartisan voices within Israel, American Judaism, academia and business have decried them.
In the new comments, Biden said — without naming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — that it was important for Israeli leaders to build support for the changes they seek.
“The genius of American democracy and Israeli democracy is that they are both built on strong institutions, on checks and balances, on an independent judiciary,” Biden said in the statement. “Building consensus for fundamental changes is really important to ensure that the people buy into them so they can be sustained.”
Biden’s comments come as Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, prepares to consider the proposed reforms for the first time this week. Israelis from all over the country plan to call out of work and school to protest outside the Knesset building in Jerusalem on Monday.
Israeli reserve soldiers, veterans and activists protest outside the Supreme Court in Jerusalem against the Israeli government’s planned judicial reforms, Feb. 10, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Under the terms of the proposed reforms, the Knesset would get the right to overrule decisions of Israel’s Supreme Court. Lawmakers would also get more power over appointing judges. Netanyahu and his allies in the right-wing governing coalition vowed during their campaigns to pursue the changes, arguing that the court is too liberal and does not reflect the attitudes of the people. Changes to the judiciary would also have the effect of insulating Netanyahu from the corruption trial he currently faces.
About a third of Israelis support the proposals and about 40% oppose them, according to recent polling by the nonpartisan Israel Democracy Institute. But previous polling by the organization has found that a majority of Israelis say they support some aspects or goals of the reforms, and the latest poll found that two-thirds of Israelis say they would prefer negotiations leading to a compromise.
Israelis who oppose the reforms have been protesting against them and other aspects of the government’s agenda, particularly the ambition of some of its ministers to limit LGBTQ, Arab and non-Orthodox rights. Saturday night’s protests were the largest yet, with a growing contingent in the Orthodox city of Beit Shemesh as well as a first-time rally in Petah Tikva along with the main demonstration in Tel Aviv and smaller ones in other cities. Israelis living abroad are also holding satellite rallies in cities around the world.
The proposals have alarmed foreign investors and credit agencies, which see countries that move away from democratic norms as risky investments. Israeli companies have already moved $780 million from Israeli banks to banks abroad amid the concern, according to a new report from the Israeli business news site Calcalist, which reported that many of the companies making the changes are not active in the anti-government protests.
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Qatari PM Meets Iran’s Larijani in Tehran, Discusses Easing Regional Tensions
Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani speaks after a meeting with the Lebanese president at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon February 4, 2025. REUTERS/Emilie Madi
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met with top Iranian security official Ali Larijani in Tehran and reviewed efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region, Qatar’s foreign ministry said on Saturday in a statement.
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Tesla Receives Approval to Test Autonomous Driving in Israel
March 12, 2025, Seattle, Washington, USA: A row of brand-new Tesla Cybertrucks stands in a Tesla Motors Logistics Drop Zone in Seattle, Washington, USA, on Wed., March 12, 2025. Photo: ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect
i24 News – The Ministry of Transport announced on Sunday that it has granted Tesla official approval to conduct trials of its autonomous driving system on Israel’s roads. The move comes as part of an effort to examine how the car manufacturer’s advanced technology can be integrated into the local driving environment, with full support from the ministry.
The trials will focus on Tesla’s Fully Self-Driving (FSD) system, a supervised autonomous driving platform. Under the terms of the approval, a driver must remain present in the vehicle at all times to supervise the system, despite its autonomous capabilities. This ensures safety while allowing the technology to be tested in real-world conditions.
The Ministry of Transport described the approval as a significant step toward advancing vehicle regulation in Israel. Officials said the initiative aims to create a regulatory framework that will allow for the routine, supervised use of autonomous driving systems in the future, safely and efficiently.
Tesla will use the trials to assess how the FSD system interacts with Israel’s road infrastructure, traffic patterns, and local driving behaviors. Data collected during the experiment will help refine the system and inform potential regulatory updates to accommodate autonomous vehicles.
The ministry emphasized that the pilot program is limited in scope and strictly monitored. It noted that all necessary safety protocols are in place and that public safety remains the top priority throughout the testing period.
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Reopening of Gaza’s Rafah Crossing Expected Monday, Officials Say
An aid truck moves on a road after entering Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, February 1, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Gaza’s main border crossing in Rafah will reopen for Palestinians on Monday, Israel said, with preparations underway at the war-ravaged enclave’s main gateway that has been largely shut for almost two years.
Before the war, the Rafah border crossing with Egypt was the only direct exit point for most Gazans to reach the outside world as well as a key entry point for aid into the territory. It has been largely shut since May 2024 and under Israeli military control on the Gazan side.
COGAT, the Israeli military unit that oversees humanitarian coordination, said the crossing will reopen in both directions for Gaza residents on foot only and its operation will be coordinated with Egypt and the European Union.
“Today, a pilot is underway to test and assess the operation of the crossing. The movement of residents in both directions, entry and exit to and from Gaza, is expected to begin tomorrow,” COGAT said in a statement.
A Palestinian official and a European source close to the EU mission confirmed the details. The Egyptian foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
STRICT SECURITY CHECKS
Israel has said the crossing would open under stringent security checks only for Palestinians who wish to leave the war-ravaged enclave and for those who fled the fighting in the first months of the war to return.
Many of those expected to leave are sick and wounded Gazans in need of medical care abroad. The Palestinian health ministry has said that there are 20,000 patients waiting to leave Gaza.
An Israeli defense official said that the crossing can hold between 150-200 people altogether in both directions. There will be more people leaving than returning because patients leave together with escorts, the official added.
“(The Rafah crossing) is the lifeline for us, the patients. We don’t have the resources to be treated in Gaza,” said Moustafa Abdel Hadi, a kidney patient in a central Gaza hospital, awaiting a transplant abroad.
“If the war impacted a healthy person by 1 percent, it has impacted us 200 percent,” he said, sitting as he received dialysis treatment at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. His travel request, he said, has been approved.
Two Egyptian officials said that at least 50 Palestinian patients will be processed on Sunday to cross Rafah into Egypt for treatment. In the first few days around 200 people, patients and their family members, will cross daily into Egypt, the officials said, with 50 people returning to Gaza per day.
Lists of Gazans set to pass through the crossing have been submitted by Egypt and approved by Israel, the official said.
NEXT PHASE OF TRUMP’S GAZA PLAN
Reopening the border crossing was a key requirement of the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Israel-Hamas war.
But the ceasefire, which came into effect in October after two years of fighting, has been repeatedly shaken by rounds of violence.
On Saturday, Israel launched some of its most intense airstrikes since the ceasefire, killing at least 30 people, in what it said was a response to a Hamas violation of the truce on Friday when militants emerged from a tunnel in Rafah.
The next phases of Trump’s plan for Gaza foresee governance being handed to Palestinian technocrats, Hamas laying down its weapons and Israeli troops withdrawing from the territory while an international force keeps the peace and Gaza is rebuilt.
Hamas has so far rejected disarmament and Israel has repeatedly indicated that if the Islamist terrorist group is not disarmed peacefully, it will use force to make it do so.