The decision by Arthur Dantchik, a New York billionaire, to stop contributing to the Kohelet Political Forum reflects the scale of the relentless protest mobilization against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to weaken his country’s Supreme Court.
“What seems crucial to me at this time is that Israel focus on healing and national unity,” Dantchik said in a statement announcing the end of the donations. “Throughout my life I have supported a diverse range of organizations that advance individual liberties and economic freedoms for all.”
The protests that have rocked Israel for seven months have exposed deep-seated social tensions. The country is mired in a crisis over the future of its democracy.
The Kohelet Political Forum, founded in 2012 by American-Israeli computer scientist Moshe Koppel, is one of the main architects of Netanyahu’s judicial reform.
Kohelet declined to comment on Dantchik, noting that the donations he receives are “broad-based and constantly increasing.”
The Israeli press has revealed that Kohelet has been involved in planning the reform, which will give the government greater power in selecting judges and reduce the power of the Supreme Court to strike down laws. A member of Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party said the forum presented the same reform proposal to the government as it did to parliament.
Israel’s parliament, or Knesset, approved the first major measure of the reform last month, sparking widespread unrest as critics fear it will weaken one of the few means of containing government abuses and erode democratic institutions. Kohelet and other supporters of the measure say it will strengthen democracy by giving elected government more power than judges.
FOUNTAIN: Associated Press
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