Amid Deep Concern: This Is How Netanyahu’s Amended Bill Will Affect Israeli Future

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu achieved his goal of passing judicial reforms, which his opponents call a judicial coup, undermining what many Israelis say is "democracy" in the country.

A poll conducted in the aftermath of the Israeli government’s passage of the first law in a package of controversial judicial amendments found that more than a quarter of Israelis are considering leaving the occupied territories, according to The Times of Israel.

It is noteworthy that Netanyahu defied a protest movement spread across the country for 8 months in order to achieve his goals aimed at limiting the powers of the judiciary, which allows it to impose controls on his right-wing government coalition.

Reports indicate that Netanyahu may face further international isolation, in light of the Biden administration’s criticism of the planned judicial reform, amid pressure on the Israeli government to reach a settlement.

The judicial amendments, along with the expansion of settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, cast a shadow over Israeli relations with the United States.

Now, as weekly street protests continue, thousands of military reservists refuse to come to duty, and global credit rating agencies express deep concern that foreign investors flee, while the confrontation moves to the Supreme Court itself, as reported by Foreign Policy.

 

Judicial Amendments

On July 24, 2023, the Knesset voted, in the second and third readings, on the reasonableness bill, which limits the powers of the Supreme Court to interfere in the decisions taken by the government now headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, thus becoming a law in force despite widespread local protests and the submission of judicial appeals against it.

Prior to that, the Supreme Court exercised judicial control over the work of the various arms of the executive authority, represented by the government and its ministries and official bodies affiliated with it.

The next morning, the largest Hebrew newspaper published its front page in black, expressing its rejection of the legislation, which was supported by 64 out of 120 deputies. On the second page, under the headline A Black Day for Israeli Democracy, newspapers published ads for opponents of judicial reforms.

The reasonableness bill is one of the 8 bills introduced by the government in the context of balancing the judicial, legislative and executive powers.

The vote in the Knesset was preceded by speeches from the opposition and the government, interspersed with an exchange of accusations between the two parties.

Netanyahu defended the vote as a necessary democratic step, despite international unease and popular protests,

“We passed an amendment to the reasonableness clause so that the elected government can implement a policy that is in line with the decision of the majority of the country’s citizens,” he said.

Deep divisions within the coalition government and massive protests led Netanyahu to pause the legislative process in March 2023, but within weeks, politicians were blaming each other for the breakdown in negotiations.

Meanwhile, opposition leader Yair Lapid criticized Netanyahu, saying: “There is no prime minister in Israel. Netanyahu has become a puppet in the hands of the extremists.”

Many in the ruling coalition see the Supreme Court as left-leaning, elitist, and too politically intrusive, often prioritizing minority rights over national interests.

Supporters of the bill say this would allow for more effective governance while leaving the court with plenty of room for judicial oversight, while his critics say that the amendments will open the door to corruption and abuse of power, according to what was reported by the media.

 

Israeli Disturbance

In a related matter, a poll conducted by the Israeli TV Channel 13 in late July indicated that more than a quarter of the Israelis participating in the poll (28%) are considering leaving the country and that 8% are not sure of their stay, noting that many of them already possess a foreign passport.

More than half of them (54%) said they feared that these judicial amendments would harm Israeli security, while 56% expressed concern about the outbreak of civil war.

The extent of the seriousness of these intentions remains unclear, but Ocean Relocation, a company that helps people immigrate, said that “since January of this year, it has received an unprecedented rate of inquiries about leaving Israel.”

“After the government recently passed its worrying bill, the volume of inquiries has skyrocketed again. The main reason I hear from people is the fear for their freedom, their rights and the current way of life in Israel,” said Shay Obazanek, a manager for Ocean Group.

According to the Jewish Agency for Israel, a nonprofit organization that encourages people to immigrate to “Israel,” in the first quarter of 2023, the numbers decreased in almost all countries except Russia compared to the first three months of 2022.

This decline is due to the cost of living and concerns surrounding the government’s planned comprehensive judiciary reforms, which were first announced in early January 2023.

Tech company executives were among those most vocal about the judicial changes.

A poll by the Israel Innovation Authority found that 80% of startups founded so far this year have been opened outside of “Israel.”

Many companies also intend to register their intellectual property in the future abroad, a move that could cause great damage to Israeli tax revenues.

There are also questions about the stability and efficiency of the Israeli army after an increase in protests by thousands of army reservists.

There is also the specter of economic and societal turmoil after major unrest erupted at night in the country’s cities, and labor leaders warned of a general strike.

The Doctors Syndicate announced a day-long cut in services, and high-tech firms said they were considering moving to more stable economies, according to a new poll.

The S&P Global Ratings agency said in a report that the ongoing controversy increases political uncertainty, which will lead to lower economic growth this year.

 

American Concern

On the external front, the Knesset’s approval of Netanyahu’s controversial bill has reinforced greater uncertainty about the future of the alliance between “Israel” and the U.S., which raises anxiety among general American Jews about the course of the Jewish state.

Jewish groups in the U.S. have condemned the Knesset’s vote to limit the judiciary’s power as a threat to democracy and warned that the vote could harm relations with American Jews.

But the White House’s criticism was limited to describing the result as unfortunate, indicating that the Biden administration is unlikely to inflict any real losses on the Netanyahu government.

The U.S. President called on the Israeli Prime Minister not to rush to approve the judicial amendments, saying he was very concerned about this legislation.

Biden added, in a statement to the American Axios website, that from the point of view of friends of “Israel” in the United States, the current judicial reform proposal has become more divisive, not less.

Rep. Jerry Nadler, the former chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, also condemned Netanyahu and his hard-line coalition, describing the day of the vote as a dark day in the history of Israeli democracy.

It is noteworthy that Washington provides “Tel Aviv” with nearly $4 billion annually in military aid and gives it the necessary diplomatic cover at the United Nations.

Before the vote on the bill, two U.S. ambassadors to “Israel” demanded the unimaginable: an end to U.S. military assistance to “Israel.”

In turn, U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna warned Israeli President Isaac Herzog that venture capital firms in California are wary of investing in the Israeli tech sector in the midst of the controversial judicial reforms taking place in “Israel,” according to what was published by the Middle East Eye.

A new report published last month found that in the first quarter of 2023, investments in tech startups in “Israel” fell to their lowest level since 2015.

 

Unprecedented Option

In the latest developments in this case, the Israeli Supreme Court announced that it will, for the first time in its history, on September 12, 2023, examine several petitions to annul the reasonableness bill recently passed by the Knesset.

Legal experts believe that this date (September 12) may be changed to August this year, with the possibility of an expanded committee of 9 or 11 judges attending the ruling.

On its part, the Times of Israel said that 7 petitions were submitted to the Supreme Court against the bill by human rights organizations and political figures, as the petitions demanded the abolition of the bill.

If the Supreme Court eventually overturned the bill, tensions within the country between the government and its opponents, which have reached their peak in recent months, are likely to escalate.

Analysts believe that the Netanyahu government may choose not to comply with the decision or escalate its war against the legal system, moving to legislate the removal of all review powers from the courts and government legal advisers.

This is likely to lead to a full-blown constitutional crisis between the branches of government, undermining the Jewish state itself from within.

On August 3, the Supreme Court began hearing the first appeal against another controversial amendment to a basic law, which was passed by the Netanyahu government last March, which sets limited conditions for deeming the prime minister unfit to perform his duties, or incompetent, and thus his removal from office.

If the Supreme Court overturns this law, it will give a strong indication of the direction Esther Hayut, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, will go.

While the reaction of lawyers representing the position of the Netanyahu government was dramatic, as they said in an official written response to the Supreme Court that it does not have the authority to annul the Basic Law.

The Likud party also used in its statements to the media an unfamiliar term: “If the Supreme Court overturns a basic law, it will result in chaos. This is a nuclear weapon that must not be used.”