As David Horovitz, the founding editor of the centrist Times of Israel, wrote Monday, “Only a government bent on doing the unreasonable would move to ensure that the justices — the only brake on majority power in a country with no constitution and no enshrined, unbreachable defense of freedom of religion, freedom of speech and other basic rights — cannot review the reasonableness of its policies.”
Such a huge change to Israel’s widely respected judicial system, which has guided the emergence of a remarkable start-up economy, is something that should be done only after study by nonpartisan experts and with a broad national consensus. That is how real democracies do these things, but there has been none of that in Netanyahu’s case. It underscores that this whole farce has nothing to do with judicial “reform” and everything to do with a naked power grab by each segment of Netanyahu’s coalition.
The Jewish settlers want the Supreme Court out of the way so they can create settlements all across the West Bank and easily confiscate Palestinian lands. The ultra-Orthodox want the Supreme Court out of the way so no one can tell their sons that they have to serve in the Israeli military or tell their schools that they have to teach English, math, science and democratic values. And Netanyahu wants the court out of the way so he can appoint whatever political hacks he wants to key jobs.
On Monday the judicial overhaul bill received the first of the three readings it needs to pass, which Netanyahu’s cabinet says it wants done by the time the Knesset recesses for the summer on July 31. Can you imagine the U.S. amending its Constitution — in just a few months — with no serious national debate or expert witnesses or attempt by the national leader to forge a consensus?
If the hundreds of thousands of Israeli democracy defenders, who have taken to the streets every Saturday for over half a year, can’t stop the Netanyahu juggernaut from slamming this bill through, it will, as former Prime Minister Ehud Barak wrote the other day in Haaretz, “degrade Israel into a corrupt and racist dictatorship that will crumble society, isolate the country” and end “the democratic chapter” of Israel’s history.
CammKelly on July 12nd, 2023 at 15:57 UTC »
Whilst starting later, I expect the reassessment of Israel to be in-line with that of Saudi Arabia, and thats its not worth the return to do more than run flat for either due to their unreliability as a security partner.
And there is an easy way out domestically as well for the Israel question, state that Israel is a modern developed economy with a well developed defence force, and in a world of shifting priorities to the Pacific and elsewhere that defence aid is better spent elsewhere. I really want to see Israel or the Zionist community in the US try and argue against that one.
Sadly I don't think there's enough political capital in the US to improve Israeli behaviour, but by running flat it'll leave room for other nations to isolate Israel in the medium term.
-Sliced- on July 12nd, 2023 at 05:58 UTC »
Israel's global perception has significantly fluctuated over time, but recent events may precipitate a lasting shift. Many accusations, some outrageous, have been leveled against Israel, but one central issue remains: the legality of its occupation of the West Bank.
Israel maintains that it is temporarily occupying the West Bank to ensure its security. This stance is supported by the comparison to Gaza, no longer under Israeli occupation, and now a frequent launchpad for rocket attacks by an internationally recognized terrorist group.
However, if we accept the security justification, we must question its duration. Israel has been occupying the West Bank for decades; when will it end? A more serious issue lies in Israel's active annexation of increasing portions of the occupied territories. Citing self-defense, Israel contends with the controversial settlers issue, a problem that garners virtually no support in the US across the political spectrum. Although it has minimal backing among the Israeli population, it enjoys strong governmental support.
Israel's Supreme Court, traditionally a safeguard against a rogue government, could intervene. It has historically blocked legislation that would further annex territories or diminish West Bank residents' liberties. However, the current Israeli government is pushing for new legislation to alter Israel's de facto constitution, which consists of a set of Basic Laws used to invalidate conflicting regulations. Unlike the US constitution, these Basic Laws aren't inherently protected, enabling any government with a majority to amend them.
In practice, if Israel continues to annex the West Bank and restrict the liberties of Palestinian inhabitants, its self-defense rationale grows less convincing. Generally, there are three scenarios the world might accept: 1) Complete annexation, affording Palestinians equal rights—an outcome Israel is unlikely to pursue due to its commitment to preserving a Jewish majority government. 2) Maintaining the status quo, meaning no further annexations—though not ideal, this has been internationally tolerated. 3) Completely withdrawing from the West Bank, akin to their actions in Gaza.
However, the current government appears to be veering towards a fourth, and potentially unpopular, option: removing the court restraint and further annexing and dividing the territory, thereby isolating Palestinians on landlocked islands within off-limits Israeli territories, endowed with few rights. This potential scenario bears striking similarities to apartheid-era South Africa. The parallels between maps of South African "homelands" and Areas A and B in the West Bank are alarming. It highlights the consequences of creating borders to isolate specific communities. Note that I'm not comparing the current state to the African situation, I think that's nonsense. Just extrapolating ahead.
That's why many in Israel are protesting to uphold the judiciary's autonomy. However, recent events suggest these protests might not be effectual. Hence, this could signal a significant turning point in Israel's relationship with the US and the world.
Still_There3603 on July 12nd, 2023 at 00:57 UTC »
I think in this next decade, democrats might substantively distance themselves from Israel. However republicans will only emphasize their loyalty/love for Israel in response both for ideological and political reasons. So if republicans come into power, relations between the US and Israel will become strong as if nothing happened before.
This happened regarding Cuba with democrats wanting to thaw relations with the country. But when republicans came back into power, a 180 was done and they were once again the enemy as if nothing happened before.