After an extensive night debate, the Knesset yesterday approved in first reading the central measures of the "judicial reform" undertaken by Benjamin Netanyahu's Executive. The three proposed laws are the basis of what the opposition considers a "coup d'état", which will undermine the independence of the judiciary. The attempts of President Isaac Herzog, who implored a State pact due to the well-founded fear that this "nightmare" would lead to a civil conflict, were ignored. "We are facing a serious situation, which will have political, economic, social and security consequences", he warned.
Among the measures, the law that will prevent the incapacitation of a prime minister due to conflict of interest stands out, so that Bibi will not be able to be removed from office, even if he is found guilty in the three criminal cases he is facing. The other arrangements will give the Knesset the power to overturn Supreme Court decisions by a simple majority, and remove Parliament's judicial oversight. Thanks to the victory achieved - 61 votes in favor and 52 against -, the Executive is closer to turning its plan into "basic law" of the State at the end of March. In a country without a Constitution or a second chamber, the Supreme Court has historically acted as a brake on the excesses of political power. Now, their decisions will hardly be implemented.
According to the proposed law approved, a Prime Minister can only be disqualified if three quarters of the Government ministers accept it. If the prime minister rejects this decision, the support of at least 90 deputies (out of 120) will be required. Thanks to the other reforms, the Knesset will be able to legislate from scratch laws vetoed by the judiciary. The coalition will be able to overturn the recent invalidation of minister Aryeh Deri, of the ultra-orthodox formation Shas, disqualified for his corrupt past and for breaking the pact with the Prosecutor's Office, which liquidated his last conviction in exchange for retiring from political life. If the Supreme Court wants to interfere in government action, it will have to obtain 12 favorable votes (out of 15), and demonstrate that the measure "clearly contradicts what is established by a basic law".
"Whoever looks at the facts, knows that the one who protects our rights is the Knesset and not the Supreme Court. Are you surprised that we need a clause to override their decisions?” asked Simcha Rothman, the Religious Zionist MP who heads the legislative committee. The Likud and its far-right and religious partners also want to control the process of selecting judges, since they consider that the current mechanism turned the judicial power into a closed elite controlled by the left. They also want the Ministry of Justice to control the police's internal investigations division, or remove the powers of the Government's legal advisers.
The centrist opposition Benny Gantz, who formed a national unity executive with Netanyahu during the pandemic, considered: “You are giving yourself unlimited power, with the annulment of checks that are fundamental in a state democratic". For Avigdor Liberman, who was also Minister of Defense with Bibi, this is "another step by this swindled Government, which is deeply dividing the people to the point of splitting it in two". In the heated public debate that has been unleashed, a ferocious struggle between two country models transpires: a Western-style liberal democracy, or a State guided by halachah (Jewish law). Although the Likud leader is not religious, he granted unprecedented powers to messianics and supremacists in exchange for securing their loyalty.
For the Government Quality Movement, which requested the Supreme Court to invalidate the Prime Minister, yesterday's vote shows that "Netanyahu uses Parliament for his personal interests with corrupt laws, with which he intends to evade justice" . From the Likud they celebrated the end of "judicial activism". "The Israelis did not vote for an attorney general who decides who can govern, and throw your votes in the trash," exclaimed the head of the coalition Ofir Katz. Voices from the right-wing party are even calling for the charges of fraud and breach of trust, for which Bibi is charged, to be dropped.
David Weinberg, researcher at the Kohelet Forum (a think tank in favor of judicial reform), considers that "the poison that the catastrophist protesters are pouring out is much worse than the proposals themselves". He considers exaggerated the accusations that the country is hijacked by "dark forces of ultra-nationalism, racism and religious radicalism", which led to calls for military insubordination and to withdraw funds from the country. "There is no democracy in which judges are appointed by their colleagues," concluded Weinberg. For Netanyahu, the "leftist press" is guilty of promoting chaos in the streets.
