The Prime Minister announced the temporary postponement of his judicial reform, after several weeks of protest. But the risk of an unprecedented concentration of powers still hovers.
They will remain mobilized “as long as the judicial coup is not completely stopped”. Thousands of demonstrators gathered again in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on Wednesday March 29, after several weeks of unprecedented protest in Israel. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu tried to calm public opinion by announcing on Monday a “break” in the process of adopting its much-criticized judicial reform. But the protesters “don’t believe a single one of his words”.
Mistrust is commensurate with the risk. The government project “would give absolute power to the executive, ending any separation of powers in Israel”alert Frédérique Schillo, researcher in history and author of The Yom Kippur War will not take place (Editions de l’archipel, 2023). In the Israeli system, the government comes from the majority coalition in Parliament, the Knesset, and therefore works in concert with the deputies. “There is no presidential veto, no upper house, no Constitution, recalls the researcher. The only real check and balance that exists is the Supreme Court.”
It is precisely this institution that the coalition led by Benyamin Netanyahu, the most right-wing in the country’s history, is targeting. In Israel, the Supreme Court is responsible for ensuring that legislative texts respect the fundamental laws. It also rules, in the last instance, on all administrative and judicial decisions.
Towards an all-powerful government
The reform presented in January would allow Parliament to overturn any decision of the Supreme Court, by a simple majority (61 votes out of the 120 in the Knesset). “The parties in power could modify even the laws which protect fundamental freedoms, without being able to stop them”decrypts Frédérique Schillo.
Another key measure: “the end of the election of judges by their colleagues”, to give more weight to the executive in the choice of judges for the Supreme Court. By appointing its members, Binyamin Netanyahu would therefore put an end to the independence of the jurisdiction. A godsend for the Prime Minister, under multiple lawsuits for corruption and who seeks to avoid a conviction. “Liberal democracy is based on several principles: the passing of laws by an elected majority in Parliament, but also the rule of law and the equality of citizens”, exposes Amélie Férey, researcher at the French Institute of International Relations.
“When the government has control of the executive, legislative and judicial branches, liberal democracy no longer exists.”
Amélie Férey, researcher at Ifriat franceinfo
The reform alarms the opposition all the more since, to return to power, Binyamin Netanyahu has joined forces with ultra-Orthodox and ultra-nationalist parties. “These groups believe that the Jewish state must above all be Jewish and that democracy is not an essential component of the Israeli identity”explains Amélie Férey.
This coalition has “emerges the openly racist Jewish supremacist right that has won government positions”, confirms Frédérique Schillo. The Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, affirmed in March that “The Palestinian people are an invention”reports The world. A few days earlier, he had called “to shave” the village of Huwara, in the West Bank, after the murder of two Jewish settlers.
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This speech has exacerbated violence in the Palestinian territories, which has led to the death of 14 Israelis and 86 Palestinians since the beginning of the year, according to an AFP count. Because supremacists support settlements in the West Bank, where “areas are effectively annexed by Israeli settlers”recalls Amélie Férey.
Separatism and anti-LGBT laws
If the colonization of the Palestinian territories “is a threat to democracy”, this question, however, is not “not at the heart of the current dispute”according to historian Thomas Vescovi. “The economic and liberal elite have mobilized because they fear to see a widening of oppression against secular Jews”explains the author of The Failure of a Utopia, a History of the Lefts in Israel (The Discovery, 2021). The new executive is indeed planning measures that would reduce the freedoms of minorities, for example by authorizing owners to refuse to sell their property to LGBT+ people, illustrates the researcher. And for the ultra-Orthodox, “Women are not meant to have the same rights as men”recalls Amélie Férey.
These new attacks on the rule of law and individual freedoms have alarmed the international community. Israel “born [peut] not continue on this path and I think I made myself understood”, US President Joe Biden said in late March. He specified that the United States, historic allies of the Jewish state, did not foresee “short term” Netanyahu’s visit to the White House.
“In a context of war in Ukraine and the hardening of the blocs, opposing Westerners to more authoritarian regimes, this distancing from Washington and its partners is very badly experienced by part of Israeli public opinion.”
Amélie Férey, researcher at Ifriat franceinfo
Especially since the country’s economy is largely dependent on foreign investment. “There is a strong sensitivity of the financial markets to this reform, because companies and investment funds are more and more demanding on environmental, social and governance criteria”, continues the political scientist. In recent weeks, the shekel, the Israeli currency, has thus reached its lowest level in three years.
As a result, the powerful tech sector and other economic players have mobilized against the reform, report The echoes. “At the end of March, we reached a historic level of blockage: while the main union called for a general strike, leading companies decided to close and encourage their employees to go and demonstrate”notes Thomas Vescovi. “Benyamin Netanyahu was surprised by the vivacity of the mobilization and the risk of seeing his party, which is down in the polls, losing power”assures Frédérique Schillo.
Netanyahu plays the watch
The Prime Minister even lost the support of part of the army. In mid-March, hundreds of reservists and members of elite units threatened to serve more if the reform was adopted. Faced with the risk of a split in the troops, the Minister of Defense called for a temporary suspension of the project on Sunday March 26. He was immediately dismissed, which plunged the country a little further into crisis.
“This decision gave the image of an executive who humiliates the army while some elected officials have never defended the country themselves: ultra-Orthodox clerics are exempt from military service and certain supremacists have been excluded because they were deemed too extremist.”
Thomas Vescovi, independent researcherat franceinfo
Under pressure from the streets, the army and the financial markets, the Prime Minister ended up announcing a postponement of his reform. Not without granting, in passing, a victory to his far-right allies. The Minister of Internal Security, the Jewish supremacist Itamar Ben-Gvir, obtained the creation of a “National Guard” civil under his authority. “A militia that will be under his command”denounce human rights organizations quoted by the left-wing daily Ha’aretz (link in English).
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At the same time, initial negotiations have started between majority and opposition parties. But time is running out: the text will be examined again during the next parliamentary session, which opens on April 30. “A compromise seems difficult to reach, so deep are the divisionsbelieves Thomas Vescovi. During this break, Binyamin Netanyahu’s priority will be to strengthen ties within his coalition. Hoping that the challenge will run out of steam in the meantime.
Several members of the majority thus ensure that the reform will be voted whatever happens. “This project is above all personal: the Prime Minister needs to control the Supreme Court to avoid prison”, insists Frédérique Schillo. Despite the risk of political and institutional crisis, “Bibi” could therefore be tempted to go through with the process. “He has saved time with this postponement. But he knows that he is playing his freedom, not just his political career, on this reform.”