Israeli parliament votes in Netanyahu’s
controversial supreme court changes
Roars and cries from demonstrators as bill passes 64-0
after opposition politicians leave plenum in protest
Bethan
McKernan in Jerusalem
Mon 24 Jul
2023 10.51 EDT
Israel’s
far-right and ultra-religious government has succeeded in passing a key part of
the coalition’s judicial overhaul, seven months after introducing the
legislation and despite widespread, sustained opposition from protesters.
The bill
abolishing the “reasonableness” clause that allows Israel’s unelected supreme
court to overrule government decisions was passed into law by a final vote of
64-0 in parliament on Monday. Every member of the coalition voted in favour,
while opposition lawmakers abandoned the Knesset plenum in protest.
The streets
around the parliament building in Jerusalem were thronged with protesters
waving blue and white flags, some of whom marched to the city over four days
last week. There were cries and roars as news of the vote result filtered
through the crowd.
Shoshana, a
67-year-old protester, said: “I’m here because there’s really negative changes
happening and they need to stop. The government’s not paying attention to the
people … I think it is going to get chaotic and violent now it has passed.”
Inside the
Knesset, which was empty of opposition lawmakers, the mood was jubilant. “We
have taken a first step in a historic process of fixing the country’s justice
system,” said the justice minister Yarin Lavin, a chief architect of the
changes and close ally of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Last-minute
compromise talks, brokered by the figurehead president, Isaac Herzog, failed to
come up with any solid plan before the vote.
Israel now
has a full-blown constitutional crisis on its hands, as a political watchdog
group immediately moved to file a supreme court appeal on the grounds that the
new law was a “de-facto elimination of the judicial branch”.
Wide-scale
industrial action is also expected after the head of Israel’s largest trade
union said he would meet with other union officials to discuss the possibility
of a general strike – similar to a strike in March that brought the country to
a standstill and forced the prime minister to temporarily freeze the overhaul.
Of foremost
concern is the possibility that upwards of 10,000 military reservists – some in
crucial roles, such as special forces, pilots, and intelligence officers – will
stop reporting for duty, as promised, now the overhaul has advanced.
Netanyahu’s
coalition of rightwing and ultra-Orthodox parties introduced a package of
sweeping judicial changes when he returned to office in December after an
18-month stint in opposition. The legislation is aimed at curbing the influence
of the supreme court, which the Israeli right has long alleged is biased and
too powerful for an unelected body.
Planned changes,
including limiting the court’s ability to overturn laws and giving politicians
more control over judicial appointments, have been denounced by critics as a
transparent power grab that will erase democratic norms and aid Netanyahu’s
fight against graft charges, which he denies.
The issue
has split the country along lines of religion, ethnicity and class, thrown the
military’s cohesion and operational readiness into doubt, damaged the shekel,
and led to public concerns for Israel’s democratic health from key allies such
as the US.
An
estimated one in four Israelis say they have participated in the protests,
according to a poll published by the Israeli Democracy Institute, with 10% of
those identifying as rightwing.
Monday’s
dramatic events were heightened by the return to parliament of Netanyahu, who
underwent an emergency heart procedure on Sunday.
The
73-year-old was admitted to the Sheba medical centre on Saturday night after a
heart monitoring device implanted last week showed anomalies. The operation
went smoothly, but the state of the premier’s health is now in the spotlight
after Israeli media reported on Sunday that cardiac arrhythmia was detected in
another hospitalisation last week, and the information withheld from the
public.
Now the
“reasonableness” clause has been scrapped, it is expected that the coalition
will immediately move to reinstate the disgraced interior minister Aryeh Deri,
who was barred from holding a cabinet position by the supreme court, as well as
introducing legislation permanently exempting ultra-Orthodox men from military
service, and bills expanding Israeli settlement and control of the occupied
West Bank.
It will
also pave the way for further bills related to the judicial overhaul when the
Knesset reconvenes after the summer break.
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