Israel has been in a state of chaos since its inception, torn between military wars and a political catch 22 Israel has grown accustomed to chaos and instability as its modus operandi.
In just four years Israel had been through four different elections, a unity government headed by a settler prime minister governing over leftists and an Arab party.
As all coalitions in Israel do, this one has fallen as well bringing back the right wing Netanyahu led government.
The thirty seventh government of Israel had a majority of 64 out of 120 seats in the parliament, appearing to the naked eye to be the same old Netanyahu government.
A grave mistake : Israel’s thirty seventh government had given rise to "the largest demonstration in the country's history"(1) a day of disruption (2), a threat of both civil war (3), and a constitutional crisis (4).
One cannot understand the Israeli public response without understanding the judicial reform itself, which has been overshadowed by the backlash which I will discuss in the next article.
There are four main pillars of the judicial reform as it was originally published. (5)
There have been negotiations between the coalition and opposition in Israel regarding the reforms. (6)
Reasonableness Doctrine.
As of 28th of december 2022 courts in Israel had the option to revoke a governmental institutions action as unreasonable, outlandish, or absurd. (7)
Override Clause.
The override clause would give the Israeli parliament the ability to override - practically ignore - a decision of the courts, with a simple majority of 61 votes, In israel every government must have 61 votes supporting it in order to exist.
Committee of Electing Judges.
The committee, as of 28th of december, is composed of nine “ elected politicians, justices, and Bar Association members”, while requiring a majority of seven yes votes for a judge to be elected.
The Transformation of Legal Advisors into Political Appointees.
Currently legal advisors both advise and rule on the legality of actions by a certain ministry or office, giving them the ability to strike an action made by the part of government they advise.
Appointed by the attorney general, legal advisors had been criticized as those who “too easily and frequently override the policy initiatives of elected ministers”. (8)
A coalition of natural partners.
Commonly seen as "Netanyahu's Government" the coalition is made out of three major sectors, Likued, ultra orthodox parties, and religious zionist parties.
While harold as natural partners All three sectors have different reasons to support a judicial overhaul.
Two lawyers, Lavin (Likud) and Rottman (Religious Zionist) have a principled legal agenda, they see the powers that are taken by the courts to be illegitimate and dictatorial in nature.
The man who firstly argued for the right of the court to overrule a law as unconstitutional was Aharon Barak, in what was later known to be called the “Constitutional Revolution” following the Human Dignity and Liberty basic law that passed with a majority of 32 in favor, 21 against and one abstention. (9)
Passed by a majority of present members, it did not pass with the majority of votes of a full parliament and is seen as a power grab by a group of like minded lawyers and judges.
Their second opposition is in regards the mandate of judges and legal advisors, given that they are not appointed by the public or elected officials, those on the right claim their authority has no leg to stand on.
Netanyahu himself is facing many corruption allegations that according to some, incentivised him to support a judicial overhaul. (10)
The ultra orthodox often has been at odds with the country’s supreme court because of its ruling that all eligible members must serve in the army, a duty which the ultra orthodox refuse to adhere to. (11)
Aryeh Derei, the leader of the Shas ultra orthodox party, was ruled to not be able to participate as a minister in the Israeli government given his past felonies. (12)
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Very well written!