By Henry Srebrnik, [Moncton, NB] Times & Transcript
Many people in Israel and abroad have expressed their concern over various aspects of the new Israeli government’s policies, especially changes to the system of judicial appointments, which would allow a majority in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, to overrule Supreme Court decisions.
Israel’s legal establishment claims that these reforms will result in the death of Israeli democracy. Many, including leaders of the political opposition that lost last November’s election, have been calling for civil disobedience.
Former attorney general Avichai Mandelblit has described the government’s proposed sweeping and drastic overhaul as “regime change” that would “eliminate the independence of Israel’s legal system from end to end.”
An estimated 200,000 protestors demonstrated across Israel Feb. 11 in a push to stop Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from overhauling the country’s judicial system.
The proposals have also stirred broad concern outside Israel, including with the country’s main ally. Some American administration officials made it clear that any erosion of judicial independence, violation of minority rights, or undermining of Israeli democracy would ruffle ties with Washington.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides met Jan. 26 with over a dozen leading Israeli business and tech executives, most of whom warned him that this will harm Israel’s economy and raise the risk of investing.
These new laws would put Israel on a direct collision course with the mainstream businesses of America and Europe. It would be difficult or impossible for reputable international businesses to invest in, partner with or trade with Israeli businesses that comply with laws that permit racial segregation, discriminate against women, or seek to harm minority communities.
Over 50 leading economists at American universities, including 11 Nobel laureates, penned an open letter to Netanyahu on Feb. 8 warning that his government’s plan would be “detrimental” to economic growth by weakening the rule of law and “thereby moving Israel in the direction of Hungary and Poland.”
The new government is also widening a schism with liberal-minded American and Canadian Jews. A leading Israeli think tank, the Institute for National Security Studies, fears that the country's “special relationship” with the U.S. is in danger due to a progressive shift among American Jews.
Last December, more than 330 American rabbis, including some who occupy prominent roles in major cities, signed an open letter pledging to block members of Netanyahu’s government from speaking at their synagogues. Their policies, they maintained, “will cause irreparable harm to the Israel-Jewish Diaspora relationship, as they are an affront to the vast majority of American Jews and our values.”
On Feb. 1, a slate of 169 prominent American Jews, called on U.S. politicians not to conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism, a signal of worsening relations between the new Israeli government and the American Jewish community.
Three prominent Israeli intellectuals, Matti Friedman, Daniel Gordis, and Yossi Klein Halevi, penned an open letter “To Israel’s friends in North America” in the Times of Israel Feb. 2.
“The changes afoot will have dire consequences for the solidarity of Israel’s society and for its economic miracle, as our leading economists are warning. It will also threaten Israeli-American relations, and it will do grave damage to our relations with you, our sisters and brothers in the Diaspora.”
Former Canadian justice minister and attorney general Irwin Cotler, one of this country’s most distinguished human rights advocates, argued that the proposals would all but annul Israel’s system of checks and balances and turn the country into a “flawed or diminished democracy.”
He also rejected Netanyahu’s view that the override mechanism sought by the government was comparable to Canada’s notwithstanding clause, which was created within the framework of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, something Israel lacks. “In Israel, nothing would be protected” under the proposed law, noted Cotler.
A Vigil for Israeli Democracy held in Toronto Jan. 21, organized by JSpace Canada and co-sponsored by a number of progressive Jewish groups, including Canadian Friends of Peace Now, brought 250 people to the Israeli consulate and 150 people to the online event.
“Netanyahu and his cabal of fascist-minded zealots are propelling Israel down a path of intolerance, injustice, violation of democratic norms and narrow, trenchant Jewish supremacy,” asserted Peace Now.
What’s all the fuss about? Right now, there are no formal limitations on judicial review. Thus, even laws that were approved by overwhelming majority in the Knesset can be annulled by a court decision.
The Supreme Court self-selects and self-ousts its own justices and the Knesset has no power to impeach justices. They can only be removed by the same “judicial selection committee,” controlled by the Israeli Supreme Court, that selects them, or by a disciplinary court appointed by the Court.
There is a danger to democracy when voters feel that no matter how they vote, policies will not change because an unelected branch of government prevents them from changing.
It makes the whole system in danger of being seen as illegitimate. Though there are many reasons to worry about overreach in the other direction by the new Netanyahu coalition, some type of reform seems reasonable. It will bring Israel’s judicial system more in line with Western norms.
On the sidelines of the political battlefield sit North America’s Jews, watching carefully and deciding whether they will be able to identify with the outcome.
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