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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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Israel’s Netanyahu Hopes to ‘Taper’ Israel Off US Military Aid in Next Decade
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview published on Friday that he hopes to “taper off” Israeli dependence on US military aid in the next decade.
Netanyahu has said Israel should not be reliant on foreign military aid but has stopped short of declaring a firm timeline for when Israel would be fully independent from Washington.
“I want to taper off the military within the next 10 years,” Netanyahu told The Economist. Asked if that meant a tapering “down to zero,” he said: “Yes.”
Netanyahu said he told President Donald Trump during a recent visit that Israel “very deeply” appreciates “the military aid that America has given us over the years, but here too we’ve come of age and we’ve developed incredible capacities.”
In December, Netanyahu said Israel would spend 350 billion shekels ($110 billion) on developing an independent arms industry to reduce dependency on other countries.
In 2016, the US and Israeli governments signed a memorandum of understanding for the 10 years through September 2028 that provides $38 billion in military aid, $33 billion in grants to buy military equipment and $5 billion for missile defense systems.
Israeli defense exports rose 13 percent last year, with major contracts signed for Israeli defense technology including its advanced multi-layered aerial defense systems.
US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a staunch Israel supporter and close ally of Trump, said on X that “we need not wait ten years” to begin scaling back military aid to Israel.
“The billions in taxpayer dollars that would be saved by expediting the termination of military aid to Israel will and should be plowed back into the US military,” Graham said. “I will be presenting a proposal to Israel and the Trump administration to dramatically expedite the timetable.”
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In Rare Messages from Iran, Protesters ask West for Help, Speak of ‘Very High’ Death Toll
Protests in Tehran. Photo: Iran Photo from social media used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law, via i24 News
i24 News – Speaking to Western media from beyond the nationwide internet blackout imposed by the Islamic regime, Iranian protesters said they needed support amid a brutal crackdown.
“We’re standing up for a revolution, but we need help. Snipers have been stationed behind the Tajrish Arg area [a neighborhood in Tehran],” said a protester in Tehran speaking to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity. He added that “We saw hundreds of bodies.”
Another activist in Tehran spoke of witnessing security forces firing live ammunition at protesters resulting in a “very high” number killed.
On Friday, TIME magazine cited a Tehran doctor speaking on condition of anonymity that just six hospitals in the capital recorded at least 217 killed protesters, “most by live ammunition.”
Speaking to Reuters on Saturday, Setare Ghorbani, a French-Iranian national living in the suburbs of Paris, said that she became ill from worry for her friends inside Iran. She read out one of her friends’ last messages before losing contact: “I saw two government agents and they grabbed people, they fought so much, and I don’t know if they died or not.”
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Report: US Increasingly Regards Iran Protests as Having Potential to Overthrow Regime
United States President Donald J Trump in White House in Washington, DC, USA, on Thursday, December 18, 2025. Photo: Aaron Schwartz via Reuters Connect.
i24 News – The assessment in Washington of the strength and scope of the Iran protests has shifted after Thursday’s turnout, with US officials now inclined to grant the possibility that this could be a game changer, Axios reported on Friday.
“The protests are serious, and we will continue to monitor them,” an unnamed senior US official was quoted as saying in the report.
Iran was largely cut off from the outside world on Friday after the Islamic regime blacked out the internet to curb growing unrest, as videos circulating on social media showed buildings ablaze in anti-government protests raging across the country.
US President Donald Trump warned the Ayatollahs of a strong response if security forces escalate violence against protesters.
“We’re watching it very closely. If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they’re going to get hit very hard by the United States,” Trump told reporters when asked about the unrest in Iran.
The latest reported death toll is at 51 protesters, including nine children.