BERLINER MORGENPOST
Berlin (ots)
For a long time, Israel was considered the only democracy in the politically extremely unstable Middle East. It was always loud and argumentative, but the rule of law worked. That impeccable reputation has cracked – it’s even endangered.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was seriously planning to push through judicial reform in the form of a cold political coup. If that were to happen, the Supreme Court – a key anchor of the separation of powers – would be relegated to the role of an extra. Parliament could have overturned any decision of the Chief Justices by a simple majority. This is all the more serious as Israel has no constitution. The Supreme Court played a fundamental role in interpreting the Basic Laws.
Netanyahu made serious mistakes. On the one hand, he exposed himself to the accusation that he wanted to push through the de facto synchronization of the judiciary with the legislative and governing power in his own interest. The head of government is accused of fraud, breach of trust and bribery. With an amputated supreme jurisdiction, he faces less political danger.
In addition, Netanyahu miscalculated his spaceship policy: He thought he could come up with a judicial reform tailored to his taste, present it to the population as a finished result and then go back to business as usual.
This approach failed miserably. The Prime Minister was so detached from reality that he simply ignored the broad resistance in the population. Not only the opposition parties stormed against the project. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets again and again, army soldiers protested, the trade unions called for a general strike. Defense Minister Joav Galant even dared open rebellion with his no to judicial reform.
Rarely has a prime minister ruled so disregarding the people as Netanyahu. President Jitzchak Herzog finally warned of a “civil war” – and certified the head of government with his concrete thinking as practically incompetent.
Netanyahu could have taken steam out of the tense situation by suspending the controversial legislative project at an early stage. A signal along the lines of “We understand” would not have resolved the conflict, but it would at least have calmed things down a bit. The prime minister missed this moment. Even after Monday evening’s announcement that the reform would be postponed, his reputation has been severely damaged. In view of the unrest in the country, he has to accept a dangerous loss of control.
One can go even further: the head of the most right-wing government in the history of Israel is no longer in control. He has become hostage to a coalition that also includes ultra-Orthodox and, for the first time, right-wing extremist parties. The latter includes not only Itamar Ben-Gvir, Minister for National Security. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is one of them. This called for counter-protests for judicial reform and thus poured fuel on the fire.
Netanyahu can no longer control the blusterers and polarizers in his cabinet. This deepens the country’s already deep internal political divisions. There are fears that the government’s radical course will intensify the conflict with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
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Original content from: BERLINER MORGENPOST, transmitted by news aktuell
