The judicial overhaul that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to pass has hit a roadblock: his nation’s highest court. The Israeli Supreme Court appears to have gutted the overhaul, which sparked massive protests throughout the country for most of 2023. They ceased after Hamas’ October 7 terror attack and the ensuing war in Gaza. The ruling rehashes a contentious political dispute for the country, but it also torches one of the most prevalent anti-Israel narratives being peddled by liberals. First, here's what Israel's Supreme Court said (via WaPo):
Israel’s high court on Monday struck down Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial law that aimed to limit the court’s power over government decisions and sparked mass anti-government protests and international condemnation.
Netanyahu’s plans to overhaul the judiciary upended Israel in the months leading up to the Israel-Gaza war and now threaten to cause a leadership crisis.
NEW: Israel’s Supreme Court strikes down Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul https://t.co/MiQt60XiK0 pic.twitter.com/PZhJaaNWka
— The Hill (@thehill) January 1, 2024
The New York Times has more:
In a momentous ruling that could ignite a constitutional crisis, Israel’s Supreme Court on Monday struck down a law passed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government that was meant to limit the court’s own powers, by a majority of eight judges to seven.
The decision is likely to rekindle the grave domestic situation that began a year ago over the government’s judicial overhaul plan — which sparked mass protests that brought the country to a near standstill at times — even as Israel is at war in Gaza.
The court, sitting with a full panel of all 15 of its justices for the first time in its history, rejected a law passed by Parliament in July. The law barred judges from using a particular legal standard to overrule decisions made by government ministers.
The court’s decision heralds a potential showdown between the top judicial authority and the ruling coalition, and could fundamentally reshape Israeli democracy, pitting the power of the government against that of the court.
In a country that has one house of Parliament, no formal written constitution and a largely ceremonial president, many defenders of Israel’s liberal democracy view the Supreme Court as the only bulwark against government power.
Here is what else to know:
Mr. Netanyahu’s governing coalition, the most right-wing and religiously conservative in Israel’s history, has argued that the Supreme Court has overreached its authority and subverted the will of the voters and the function of the elected government. They argue that the legal concept of “reasonableness” — which the court used a year ago to strike down Mr. Netanyahu’s appointment as finance minister of a political ally who had been convicted of tax fraud — is ill defined and subjective.
Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party called the Supreme Court’s decision on Monday “in opposition to the nation’s desire for unity, especially in a time of war.” They slammed the court for ruling on the issue when Israeli soldiers are “fighting and endangering themselves in battle.”
Kaplan Force, one of the activist groups that organized protests against the judicial reform, praised the Supreme Court’s decision and called on all parties to obey the ruling. “Today, one chapter ended in the battle to protect democracy — in a victory for the citizens of Israel,” the group said in a statement.
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Courts pushing back on Bibi undercuts the main left-wing narrative that Israel is a fascist state. It was always a stupid talking point, along with the allegations of genocide that have been weaponized incorrectly by the Left. Since liberals don’t know the history or interpret it laughably wrong, fascist countries don’t allow their judiciary to strike down laws from the government.
If you want to understand how little the Palestinian ‘activists’ and sympathizers in the world know about the reality in Israel - spend 5 minutes watching what happened when I arrived at the University of Auckland to "register" for their Palestinian club... pic.twitter.com/WYpm9Lg8Dh
— יוסף חדאד - Yoseph Haddad (@YosephHaddad) October 21, 2023
Israel activist Yoseph Haddad also shredded this narrative in the face of a college student who was part of a Palestinian club, adding that he, an Arab Israeli, can vote and become president. That would not be the case if Israel were a fascist state. An Arab Israeli judge tossed a former Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, in jail on corruption charges. Again, this would not be possible if this silly narrative were anywhere close to being factual.
So, while this isn't welcome news for the Netanyahu government, it seems like 'fascist' Israel is keeping this man's judicial overhaul in check. How peculiar?
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