He has pledged to be present for an important vote, despite undergoing surgery. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had a pacemaker implanted on Sunday July 23. The intervention took place on the eve of a vote in the Knesset (Israeli parliament) on Monday, July 24, on a controversial judicial reform bill, which has sparked major protests for several months.
The debates began Sunday noon and should be held until Monday morning, when the votes in 2nd and 3rd readings should take place. More than 20 parliamentarians are expected to speak against the bill, according to a list provided by parliament. At the end of the vote, a large part of the project could be adopted.
What are the main provisions?
Parliament adopted at first reading, on the night of Monday July 17 to Tuesday July 18, a provision aimed at canceling the possibility for the judiciary to rule on “the reasonableness” of government decisions.
In January 2023, the Supreme Court invalidated the appointment of Arie Deri as Minister of Interior and Health, arguing that he had been found guilty of tax evasion and that it was therefore not “reasonable” that he sit in government. And this even if no law prevents him from doing so since the vote, in December 2022, of an amendment tailored to his measure to allow him to integrate the executive. Binyamin Netanyahu had been forced to remove him from office but had criticized the decision of the judges, whom he accused of ignoring “the will of the people”.
Critics of the Supreme Court say it misinterpreted Israel’s Basic Laws, which serve as the Constitution. And that by invalidating laws, she abused her powers. The deputies had already voted last mid-March at first reading a provision considerably tightening the conditions required to allow the Supreme Court to invalidate an ordinary law. This text contained the so-called “derogation” clause, allowing Parliament, by a simple majority vote, to protect a law against any cancellation by the Supreme Court. At the end of June, Benyamin Netanyahu had however declared that he had given up on this key measure of his reform.
Other provisions aimed at restricting the powers of the Supreme Court were also voted on at first reading, in particular a text aimed at preventing this institution from invalidating any new fundamental law voted by Parliament.
Judges, including those of the Supreme Court, are currently chosen by a nine-member commission made up of judges, MPs and barristers, under the supervision of the Minister of Justice. Under another provision of the bill, lawyers would be removed from this panel. This would now be made up of 11 members, still under the chairmanship of the Minister of Justice: three magistrates, three ministers and five deputies, including three from the ranks of the coalition and two from the opposition.
Following fears expressed about the initial version, which gave a de facto majority to the ruling coalition, the voting rules were modified in committee, so as to establish a qualified majority or to impose the endorsement of at least one opposition MP in several cases.
Why is this reform contested?
According to the government, the reform therefore aims in particular to rebalance powers, by reducing the prerogatives of the Supreme Court – which the executive considers politicized – in favor of Parliament. Its detractors believe, however, that it risks opening the way to an anti-liberal or authoritarian drift.
“We want to continue to live in a Jewish and democratic state,” opposition leader Yair Lapid said at the start of the plenary debate on Sunday. “We will not give up the future of our children,” he added, asking to “stop the legislation” on this reform. Former Defense Minister Benny Gantz called for dialogue. Benyamin Netanyahu had for his part affirmed Thursday evening that his door remained “open” for negotiations with the opposition.
What forms does protest take?
Judicial reform proposed by Binyamin Netanyahu’s far-right government has divided the nation and sparked one of the biggest protest movements in Israel’s history since it was introduced in January 2023. On Saturday, tens of thousands of Israeli protesters marched in Tel Aviv and near Parliament in Jerusalem to hammer home their opposition. The same situation repeated itself on Sunday, when thousands of people marched in Jerusalem to call for dialogue between the government and the opposition.
Earlier in the week, on Thursday evening, thousands of demonstrators protested at crossroads in several cities across the country as hundreds more made their way to Jerusalem in a 70-kilometre march that started Tuesday from Tel Aviv and ended Saturday outside the Knesset.
Separately, at least 1,100 Israeli Air Force reservists threatened Friday to suspend their voluntary service if the Knesset passes the bill. “We all have a responsibility to end the division […] and deep divisions within the population,” they said in a statement. The signatories include 235 fighter pilots, 173 drone operators and 85 commando soldiers.
Any legislation applied in an “unreasonable” manner, “would compromise my willingness to continue risking my life and force me, with great sadness, to suspend my voluntary reserve service”, added the signatories, calling on the government to “maintain (the) independence” of the judicial system.
What are the reactions internationally?
The project also arouses criticism abroad, notably in the United States, close allies of Israel. US President Joe Biden on Wednesday urged the Israeli government not to “rush” its reforms and to proceed with caution, in an unusually direct criticism of Israel’s domestic politics.
On February 2, Emmanuel Macron received the Israeli Prime Minister at the Elysee Palace without publicly criticizing his attacks on the Supreme Court. However, according The worldthe French president had expressed his fears about the justice reform wanted by Benyamin Netanyahu and his government partners, far-right and ultra-Orthodox religious formations.
For Emmanuel Macron, if the reform succeeds as it stands, Paris should conclude that Israel has emerged from a common conception of democracy, reported then The world.