An opinion poll conducted after the unprecedented wave of protests in Israel, Sunday and Monday, showed a decline in the popularity of the Likud party, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The two polls, the results of which were published by the “Times of Israel” newspaper, said that the current coalition, which constitutes the most conservative government in the history of Israel, will not be able to achieve a majority in the Knesset, if elections are held today.
Israel witnessed the exacerbation of the political crisis in the country, Sunday and Monday, regarding the judicial amendments, and the huge protests forced Netanyahu to back down from these proposed amendments, which his opponents say will change the nature of the political system in the country.
The results of the two surveys
- The polls were conducted by “Channel 12” of Israeli television and the official “Kan” channel.
- Both polls showed that Netanyahu’s Likud party suffered a major blow with the large protests.
- If elections were held today, the Likud would win only 25 seats, which is less than its current 32 seats.
- The number of seats for the Yesh Atid party, led by opposition leader Yair Lapid, has been slightly reduced from 24 now to 22.
- The biggest winner is the party of former Defense Minister Benny Gantz, the “state camp”, whose number of seats will jump to 23 according to “Channel 12” and 21 according to “Kan”.
According to Israeli law, general elections for Parliament are held once every 4 years, and any party can form a government by obtaining 61 seats out of 120, the total number of Knesset seats.
However, the Knesset is often dissolved before the end of its specified term due to disagreements between members of the ruling coalition.
Netanyahu backs off
In a televised speech addressed to the Israeli people, Netanyahu announced on Monday evening the postponement of the judicial amendments without canceling them, and he said in his speech:
- Decided to suspend draft laws related to reforms in the judicial system.
- I will postpone the second and third readings of the justice bill to the next Knesset session.
- The postponement comes out of a desire to reach a broad consensus.
- There is a possibility to prevent a civil war through dialogue.
Netanyahu’s announcement of postponing the amendments came after the huge protests that took place in Israel, in which hundreds of thousands participated, in addition to a large-scale strike called for by the unions, and in the evening hours, confrontations broke out between supporters and opponents of the amendments.
Highlights of the modifications
- These amendments seek to remove powers from among the Supreme Court justices, as observers of the Knesset (parliament) and the government.
- The amendments aim to reduce the Supreme Court’s power to overturn laws it deems illegal.
- According to these amendments, members of Parliament can, by a simple majority, reject Supreme Court decisions.
- The proposed amendments give politicians greater power to appoint judges, unlike what is currently in place, which is a committee that includes 9 judges from various parties such as the Bar Association, the government, parliament and the judiciary.
- Canceling an argument known as “reasonableness”, as this argument gives the court the power to cancel any government decisions it deems unreasonable.
