/ world today news/ The Israeli government stopped the judicial reform. The innovations of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu caused a powerful wave of protests. But now that he has backed down, the chief of staff risks losing power. About what the internal political crisis will lead to – in the material.
Reverse move
Defense Minister Yoav Galant called on the prime minister to withdraw the legislative initiative live on television. He noted that there had been a “gigantic rift” in society that had caused an unprecedented sense of anger, pain and frustration that had spilled over into the military.
“This creates a clear, immediate and tangible threat to the security of the state,” emphasized the head of the military department. Netanyahu immediately fired him
Demonstrations continued, including in front of parliament and the prime minister’s residence. Police used water cannons. More than half a million people took to the streets. The Israeli national carrier “El Al” stopped flights from Tel Aviv against this background.
As a result, judicial reform was shelved.
What do they want to change?
It is about limiting the powers of the Supreme Court. He must give the Knesset the right to overturn convictions with a simple majority of 61 votes out of 120.
In addition, the Supreme Court will lose the power to review the implementation of Israel’s basic laws – the state’s actual constitution.
And the orthodox parties in the ruling coalition will pass a law exempting their religious community from military conscription. They fear the Supreme Court will overturn it – judicial reform will remove that risk.
Self interest
Netanyahu’s opponents believe he wants to defend himself. The Prime Minister appears in bribery and fraud cases. No formal charges have been filed, but the trials are not over either.
The opposition also points out that the prime minister’s nationalist allies want to weaken the Supreme Court in order to resettle more people on Palestinian land. Although there are already more than half a million Jews in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Last week, a law was passed that simplifies the procedure for stripping Palestinians of their citizenship and residence permits.
At least 50 people, including 11 children, have been killed in attacks in the Palestinian territories since the beginning of the year.
Positions of the parties
Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog also spoke about the reform.
“I am addressing the prime minister, the government, the factions and the members of the coalition with a heavy heart and pain. People are gripped by deep anxiety. Security, economy, society are under threat,” he said. “The eyes of the entire people of Israel are upon you. The eyes of the entire world are upon you. In the name of unity with the people of Israel, in the name of our entrusted responsibility, I call for an immediate suspension of the law. I call upon the leaders of all factions of the Knesset, both coalition and opposition, to act responsibly and courageously, without delay. Remember now,” he declared.
Three readings are needed to start the reform, the first has already passed.
Netanyahu delayed the process but did not cancel the second and third readings. Just postponed indefinitely.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the right-wing Otzma Yehudith coalition, warned that the failure of the reforms would destroy the government. The parliamentary faction “Ha Tsionut ha Datit” made the same threat.
Opposition leaders, in turn, said they would not talk to the authorities until the scandalous law was finally removed from the agenda.
A new coalition?
Experts consider the current situation deadlocked. On the one hand, Netanyahu cannot but listen to public opinion. On the other hand, he is interested in coalition partners representing mainly the right wing. Over the past year and a half, Israel has already held early parliamentary elections six times. Netanyahu has supposedly installed a relatively stable government. Another election campaign is highly undesirable. This will not only weaken the prime minister, but will also cost the state a lot of money, which has no less important spending feathers. For example, the defense.
Boris Dolgov, a leading researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted that a freeze on judicial reform is expected.
“We are seeing mass demonstrations, unprecedented in the history of Israel. Netanyahu is forced to make concessions, which has expectedly caused protests already in the ruling coalition,” he says. However, according to him, the prime minister should have enough political experience to resolve the conflict. “There are no other options: society is divided. But if no consensus is reached, the crisis will continue, of course, this is not excluded,” concludes the expert.
The political scientist, head of the scientific center “Middle East Institute” Evgeniy Satanovski believes that this is not so much a matter of reforms as of the usual internal political struggle in the country.
“This is a big battle. Right against left, secular against orthodox, opposition against Netanyahu. A standard situation, as well as a possible government crisis. In Israel, parliamentary elections were on time only three times. And they were often connected with another war,” the expert recalled.
Moreover, Netanyahu still has a backup option. According to Dolgov, even if the partners in the ruling coalition turn away from him, thanks to the freezing of the reform and his personal charisma, he is fully capable of attracting part of the opposition to his camp. Then Israel will have a chance to avoid new early elections.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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