Israel Weekly News Roundup Feb. 17 2023
5 Things you need to know
Constitutional Crisis In Israel Is Deteriorating Rapidly: The right-wing government, under PM Netanyahu is leading a rapid process of legislation, that if approved, will change Israeli democracy into a hollow concept. The core of the “reforms” they are trying to legislate will jeopardize the ability of the supreme court to protect minority, human and civil rights and not allow any judicial criticism regarding future legislation that infringes any personal human rights.
The political climate in the Knesset (parliament) is becoming further polarized and the discussions in the judicial committee that prepares the legislation for voting are heated. The chair, MK Rotman from the Religious Zionism party, conducts the discussions in a dictatorial manner, where he doesn’t let the opposition express their reservations. Earlier this week, when the committee was about to vote, the members of the opposition started singing: “we don’t have any other land”, and chaos ensued in the room.
In an attempt to calm things down, President Herzog delivered a speech which was broadcast live on all broadcast media outlets. In his speech, Herzog called on the parties to sit and reach a compromise together. Since his speech the parties have argued over the need to stop the legislative process during the talks. Minister of Justice, Yarive Levine and MK Rotman refused to pause the legislative process even for one day. Meanwhile, the President continues to talk with all parties involved to reach an agreement on the framework of the talks between coalition and opposition.
Hundred of Thousands of People Demonstrated in Jerusalem Against the Constitutional Coup: A large number of people travelled to Jerusalem on Monday, to protest against the constitutional coup. This was the biggest demonstration ever seen in Jerusalem. Analyst evaluate the number of people demonstrating only in Jerusalem as exceeding 350,000, and thousands of others demonstrated at other locations all around the country. The demonstrators carried the national flag, and protested against what looks like a complete change to the basic values of democracy.
The coordinator of the demonstrations also called for a complete strike, and many offices allowed their workers to strike, many others supplied buses for their employees to go to Jerusalem, others decided to close the office for the day. It was a great act of protest and solidarity by employers.
Israel Facing International Criticism as Clashes in the West Bank Escalate and Legal Reform is Expedited: following the decision of the security cabinet to legalize nine illegal Jewish outposts and build 7,023 new housing units in the West Bank, diplomats say that the UN Security Council is expected to vote on Monday on a proposed resolution demanding that Israel stop all expansion or legalization of settlements in the West Bank. The proposed resolution was drafted by The Emirates in cooperation with the Palestinians.
Also, this week, an open rift emerged between Minister of Finance Smotrich (Religious Zionism) and Minister of Defense Galant (Likud) over the evacuation of an illegal Jewish farm built on private Palestinian land north of Ramallah. Evacuation work was nearly completed when PM Netanyahu intervened at the request of minister Smotrich. Sources reported to the media that Smotrich knew that the eviction was a fait accompli, due to the enforcement of a High Court ruling, but he preferred to place the responsibility on minister Galant and the security establishment in order not to initiate a confrontation with the Prime Minister. While the evacuation of the illegal farm was the catalyst for the rift between Smotrich and Galant, analysts say it was bound to erupt at some point, given the agreement between Netanyahu and Smotrich to transfer responsibilities for the civil administration of the West Bank from the ministry of defense to Smotrich.
The US administration commented on Israel’s unilateral steps to expand settlements in the West bank; Secretary of State Anthony Blinken condemned the security cabinet decision and said in a statement; “previous administrations, Democratic and Republican, we strongly oppose the one-sided measures which exacerbate the tensions in the region and harm the chances of reaching a two-state solution through negotiations."
U.S. President Joe Biden also weighed in on the Israeli government's plan to radically weaken the country's judiciary. In a statement sent in response to a call from the NYT columnist Thomas Friedman, President Biden said: "American democracy and Israeli democracy" are similar in that "they are both built on strong institutions, checks and balances, on an independent judiciary."
Heads Of All Major Banks in Israel Went to Minister of the Treasury to Express Their Concern: CEOs of the banks told the minister, Bezalel Smotrich, that they see a possible economic crisis, if the judicial revolution process continues. They said that foreign investors currently hesitate from engaging with Israeli firms and corporations, while other businesses and business figures are checking ways to transfer their capital out of the country. The main fear is that if the revolution is enacted, courts will no longer be able to protect businesses and be able to fairly adjudicate disputed deals and investments, and the situation in Israel will be unstable, which is bad for business. This was in addition to the warning from the governor of Israel’s central bank who has already expressed his concerns.
Minister Smotrich listened but responded that the judicial reform will continue.
Prominent Orthodox News Reporter Comes Out as Gay in an Open Post: Yair Cherki, the religious affairs reporter for Channel 12 news, came out of the closet with a post he published earlier this week on Facebook. "I love boys and I love the Holy One, blessed be He. And this is neither contradictory nor new," Cherki wrote "I am the same one exactly as I was, except that now not only I know, but you too. It was important for me to say this here in a place that is the public domain even though it is a private matter. Simply to live neither in the shadows nor in hiding”. Politicians from left and right and LGBTQI activists were quick to show their support to Cherki.
Cherki is a member of a national religious family from Jerusalem, a graduate of a prestigious Yeshiva and the son of a Rabbi. His public coming out of the closet at such a time stirred a public conversation.
Last week, Cherki criticized the coalition's wave of extreme legislation: "I think that we, as a country and Judaism, have been hijacked by extremists”, he said, commenting on legislative initiatives by Haredi parties, such as a six months prison sentence for people who are deemed not dressed modestly enough as they daven (pray) at the Western Wall.
For further reading:
Judicial Crisis: Here, here, here, here, here
Demonstrations: Here, here, here, here