For months, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Israel in the most sustained and intense demonstrations the country has ever seen. The protesters rose out of opposition to a judicial overhaul spearheaded by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The proposals include a bill that would allow a simple majority in parliament to overturn Supreme Court decisions. Another would give parliament the final say in selecting judges. Last month, the first piece of that legislative package passed: Israel’s parliament approved a measure that prevents judges from striking down government decisions on the basis that they are “unreasonable.” Netanyahu’s allies say the package is meant to restore power to elected officials and reduce the powers of unelected judges.
While protests are not unknown in Israel, these protests have taken on a new push as many of the protesters have said they will not show up for their military duties if the laws are passed. Israel has mandatory military service for most of its citizens and so having protesters ignore their military duty would be a major blow to their national defense.
The protesters fear the overhaul will push Israel toward autocracy. They say it is a power grab fueled by various personal and political grievances by Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, and his allies.
Proponents say the current “reasonability” standard gives judges’ excessive powers over decision making by elected officials. Israel does not have a constitution in the same manner as the United States. This means the judiciary are not judges whether laws are “constitutional” but instead are simply “reasonable”, a much vaguer term. But critics say that removing the standard, which is invoked only in rare cases, would allow the government to pass arbitrary decisions, make improper appointments or firings and open the door to corruption.
Protesters say Netanyahu and his allies want to change the law so they can appoint allies to government posts — and particularly so that they can fire the country’s independent attorney general, according to Amir Fuchs, a senior researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank.
The measures “make it more difficult to conduct oversight” over arbitrary decisions of elected officials, said Yohanan Plesner, the institute’s president. “This is one chapter of a broader plan and program of the government to weaken the checks and balances.” Netanyahu has dismissed accusations that the plan would destroy Israel’s democratic foundations as absurd. “This is an attempt to mislead you over something that has no basis in reality,” he said.
Israel has minimal local governance and lacks a formal constitution. This means that most of the power is centralized in parliament, where Netanyahu’s coalition has a majority. The “basic laws” — foundational laws that experts describe as a sort of informal constitution — can be changed at any time by that majority.
While this is strictly a dispute within the government structure of Israel, it has not stopped others outside of Israel from addressing the protests. President Biden, in a phone call with Netanyahu, told him that he was rushing the process and did not have a mandate to pass the laws, even though Netanyahu has a majority in his parliament. It is rare for a foreign leader to address another nation’s internal political situation, but Israel has always been under more scrutiny than other nations.
Biblical Connection: The Bible has a clear emphasis on justice within the government. As long as the Israeli government does not abuse this power, it fits within a Biblical structure.