Split wide open

NEW DELHI: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies are attempting to pass a series of judicial overhaul bills aimed at curtailing the power of the Supreme Court and giving the ruling coalition control over the appointment of judges.

The proposals include a bill that would permit a simple majority in the Knesset, the unicameral Israeli parliament, to overturn Supreme Court decisions. Another bill gives the legislature the final says in selecting judges.

The plan was criticised by the White House and inspired months of sustained mass protests across the increasingly divided country. Opponents said the measures would weaken the judiciary by limiting judicial oversight on official decision-making and legislation — concentrating power in the hands of the executive and eroding the limited checks and balances on elected lawmakers.

However, Netanyahu and his allies, who came to power in December after the country’s fifth election in less than four years, believe these changes are imperative to curb what they view as an overly interventionist judicial system made up of unelected judges.

Last week, the PM and his allies passed a law that removed the high court’s ability to annul government decisions considered ‘unreasonable.’ The ‘reasonableness standard’ was introduced by the Supreme Court earlier this year in order to thwart the appointment of a BiBi ally as the nation’s interior minister after he had recently pleaded guilty to tax offences.

The hearing pertaining to the law striking down the ‘reasonableness standard’ would take place on Sept 12. Protesters believe Netanyahu and his allies want to alter the law to be able to appoint their cronies to government posts — and particularly so that they can dismiss the country’s independent attorney general.

Per constitution experts, the judiciary plays a significant role in checking executive power in the country. For instance, in the US, the Congress has two houses operating independently of the president and they can even limit his power. However, in the case of Israel, the PM and his majority coalition in the Knesset work in tandem.

This solely places the onus of checking government power with the judiciary.

Israel has non-existent local governance, thanks to the absence of a formal constitution. As a result, authority is centralised in parliament. A small majority is all it takes to change a basic law.

Israel’s judiciary has historically acted as a bulwark in protecting the rights of minorities, including Palestinian citizens of Israel, non-citizens, and African asylum seekers. However, the legislative overhaul is driven by BiBi’s administration, made up of far-right conservative religious parties with close ties to the West Bank settler movement.

This coalition has propagated full annexation of the occupied West Bank, discrimination against LGBTQ+ people and Palestinian citizens of Israel, and limiting the rights of women.

The overhaul is being viewed as an assault on Israel’s democratic fundamentals, which will eventually open the floodgates to serious infringements on personal liberties and the rights of women, the queer community and minorities — setting Jerusalem on the road to autocracy.

Those opposed to the amendments cut across socio-political, economic, class, ideological and religious divisions.

Members of the apolitical military also oppose the leadership’s plans, with reserve soldiers skipping duty, which has presented concerns of national security and could be used as leverage by Israel’s adversaries.

Despite Israel’s tight integration into the global economic and political ecosystem, international credit rating agencies have begun lowering their credit ratings due to the divisions on judicial reform. And an economic meltdown is the last thing Israel needs.