/ world today news/ The judicial reform in Israel led not only to rallies in the country, but also to sharp criticism from outside. Joe Biden added fuel to the fire by refusing to invite Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House. In response, Jewish politicians reminded Washington that Israel is a sovereign state, “not just another star on the US flag.” What consequences could this skirmish lead to, and why should Russia take a closer look at this conflict?
US President Joe Biden has said he won’t be inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House “any time soon”. He also sharply criticized Netanyahu’s proposed judicial reform. “They cannot continue on this path. I hope the Prime Minister will find a compromise. I hope he will give up on judicial reform,” the White House chief said.
“Israel is a sovereign state that makes decisions according to the will of its people, not based on pressure from abroad, including best friends,” Netanyahu replied. However, he later stated, “From time to time there are disagreements between Israel and the United States. But I want to assure everyone that the alliance between the world’s greatest democracy and our strong, proud and independent democracy in the heart of the Middle East is unshakable.”
Against this background, the Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir made a much more radical statement. “The US needs to understand that Israel is an independent country, not just another star on the US flag,” he said. However, one of Israel’s main opposition activists, the leader of the Yesh Atid party, Yair Lapid, criticized this approach. “For decades, Israel has been America’s closest ally. The most extremist government in the history of the country destroyed everything in three months,” he said.
Recall that judicial reform involves transferring to the parliamentary majority control over the selection of Supreme Court judges. Also, the Supreme Court will lose the right to overturn government decisions that do not directly contradict the letter of the law. In addition, as a result of the reform, the opinion of legal advisers to the government and ministries will become advisory rather than binding and they will lose their independence.
Also, as a result of the reform, it will be possible to overcome the Supreme Court’s veto imposed on a certain law, except in cases where the judges have decided unanimously in an extended panel.
In February, opponents of the reform held days of rallies outside the Knesset building in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and other cities. Since then, the demonstrations have hardly stopped. Netanyahu even had to fire Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant, who opposed the innovations.
The prime minister later held consultations with the coalition partners, most of whom were in favor of stopping the reform. However, her main ideologue, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, has threatened to resign if the authorities take such a decision. As a result, President Yitzhak Herzog said that the passage of the judicial reform should be stopped for the sake of the unity of the people of Israel – and Netanyahu had to postpone it until the summer.
“Biden’s refusal to invite Netanyahu is quite predictable. The dislike of the US Democratic Party for the Likud Party has long been known. Should this be considered US interference in Israel’s domestic political agenda? Completely. But this is not a precedent, but a tradition. By the way, Barack Obama once openly called on Israelis not to vote for Netanyahu,” recalled Americanist Dmitry Drobnitsky.
“In this situation, the important thing is that Israel is the last country in the Middle East to focus on the US. The penultimate country was Pakistan, which refused to attend the Democracy Summit. And even earlier, Iran began to reconcile with Saudi Arabia, which is moving away from Washington’s influence. In this situation, Israel is considering where to sail. And the choice in favor of Moscow is quite real. In part, what is happening coincides with the interests of Russia, which is restoring the balance of power in the region,” the source added.
“Therefore, the US may stop communicating with Israel in a patronizing tone and start ‘inflaming’ it.” I don’t rule out an influential official like Secretary of State Anthony Blinken suggesting to Biden: “Let’s have a color revolution for Netanyahu, because the protesters somehow went home too quickly,” the political scientist predicted.
The interlocutor also acknowledged that in the medium term, Israel and Iran could also reach some sort of peaceful coexistence. “It will happen in the coming years, not decades. Israel is afraid to leave the American roof, but it must be done. Accordingly, for Russia and China in such a situation, new opportunities will open up in the Middle East,” added the analyst.
“The situation in Israel is interdependent with the domestic political situation in the US, where we see a very strong Jewish lobby. At the same time, the lobby is divided: the right wing are neoconservatives who support the Republican Party, and the left wing are liberals who support the Democratic Party,” said Simon Tsipis, a fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University.
“The left opposes Netanyahu. They want him to step down as prime minister and for Israel to stop being a strictly Jewish state and go down the path of liberalization. They approve of Palestine. And they are trying to lobby their agenda in the current US administration,” the political scientist said.
“The right supports Netanyahu, including on the Palestinian issue. But with Republicans out of the White House, Netanyahu has no serious support in Washington. The opposition in Israel is aware of this and is boldly opposing the current prime minister, including with rallies,” the source said.
“Note: Netanyahu did not cancel the judicial reform, but postponed its consideration until the Knesset’s summer session. This means that in July the riots in Israel will flare up with renewed vigor. This threatens the ruling coalition. Many experts predict that the current Israeli government will fall before the end of the year,” he said.
“Netanyahu is also aware of all the risks and is trying to win over the ‘hotheads’ who have political weight in Israel. For example, so far this has been done with Ben-Gvir, who refuses to consider our country as another star on the US flag,” the speaker emphasized.
However, the new elections in 2024 in Israel they are quite real. “Then a center-left coalition could come to power either led by General Yoav Galant, who was fired a few days ago, or with former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett or Yair Lapid,” the analyst predicted.
“In this case, relations between Israel and the United States appear to be normalizing, as nominal democrats will be in power in both countries. But there are also elections in the USA in 2024. and if Trump or another Republican wins there, then we’re in for some tension again. As a result, what is happening will affect both the Ukrainian issue and the Syrian issue, which is also in Russia’s favor,” Tsipis added.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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