Already three petitions have been filed with the High Court against the controversial law pushed by Israel’s radical right and a prime minister under investigation. The opposition pledges to scarp the law as one of its first acts after the next election. Appeals are made to Israeli President Herzog not to sign the bill. Palestinians take to the streets in Gaza against Hamas.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) – At least three petitions have been filed at the High Court of Justice while opposition leaders, who have taken to the streets, issued a joint statement saying one of the first moves of the next government will be to scrap a law that undermines the division of powers.

In a country at war on several fronts with protest rallies by the families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza taking place for months, a new political battle has broken out in the past few hours.

The core of the dispute is a controversial reform of the justice system pushed by the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his radical right-wing ministers, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

The law was approved amid massive demonstrations outside the Knesset with opposition lawmakers setting up improvised "offices" along the road leading to Parliament, in solidarity with the demonstrators.

Among the most critical issues is the substantial increase in political oversight of judge appointments.

In a post on a social media, MK Gilad Kariv writes that he “opened my office outside the Knesset, along with my other colleagues and MKs, to stand shoulder to shoulder with the protesters and deliver a clear message [that] the people’s house no longer represents the people.”

The final appeal to Justice Minister Yariv Levin to stop the approval process fell on deaf ears, while National Unity party chief Benny Gantz said that the country seems increasingly "on the brink of a civil war".

The controversial reform of the justice system has long been criticised not only by the opposition, but also by authoritative legal experts according to whom it is based on a “paradigm” to reduce the independence of the judiciary.

The law gives the government greater control over the courts, affecting the five pillars of Israel's constitutional system, starting with the methods of selecting judges.

It gives the Knesset the power to overturn Supreme Court rulings on bills’ constitutionality by a majority vote (61 seats out of 120 in total).

This, scholars point out, highlights the conflict between branches of power in the Jewish State: hitherto, the judiciary was able to put a brake on Netanyahu’s radical right-wing government.

For his part, the prime minister, who is also on trial, ousted the head of the Shin Bet (the domestic secret service) and the attorney general; which, albeit in different ways, shed light on murky business and corruption (the so-called Qatargate) involving people close to Netanyahu.

Regarding judicial overhaul, the government wants to limit the use of the “reasonableness" doctrine by Israeli courts to review executive decisions as well as the role of the Attorney General.

Members of opposition parties left the Knesset in protest in the final stages of the vote, issuing a joint statement saying that, “The government of Israel has just approved a law with one goal — to ensure that judges become subject to the will of politicians.”

“This is happening while 59 hostages are still held in Gaza. Instead of focusing all efforts on bringing them home and healing the divisions in the nation, this government is once again engaging in the very legislation that divided the public before October 7,” the statement adds.  

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and the Yesh Atid party also filed their own petitions against the new law.

“The Supreme Court is the last and only barrier against majority tyranny. The politicization of judicial appointments will lead to a situation where every judge, from the lowest ranks to the Supreme Court, will depend on politicians’ favor for promotion and will fear ruling against government positions,” ACRI adds.

For his part, Haaretz journalist Uzi Benziman is also speaking out, turning directly to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, urging him not to sign the bill into law.

“Israel's president is behaving like any rank-and-file citizen who wakes up every morning into a terrifying reality and stands helplessly in the face of the growing recklessness of Netanyahu and his government. As though he doesn't have the power to take practical steps to stop this roller coaster from falling into the abyss.”

While the powers of the Israeli president are limited, Herzog should nevertheless “refuse to sign the laws that the Knesset is now legislating to implement the regime coup. An extreme situation calls for exceptional methods of self-defense, and the president's refusal to sign and approve the laws of the regime coup would likely cause the coalition to come to its senses”.

Benziman goes on to write: “Such a move by the president is in fact a deviation from the language of the law, but under the present circumstances, it's the last nonviolent step that can be considered to rescue the country from the disaster toward which the government is leading us.”

Finally, for the second consecutive day, hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets in Gaza yesterday to protest against Hamas. This is unusual, but not unprecedented since other protests occurred in the past against the extremist movement in Gaza.

The show of dissatisfaction is another sign that Gazans are tired of war, violence, and the ongoing economic and humanitarian crises. So far the death toll since war broke out on 7 October 2023 topped 50,000 Palestinians.

“Hamas out” is the most used slogans, echoed in videos posted on social media.

Reacting to the protests, Hamas is claiming that they are aimed at Israel but are being exploited and manipulated by those who “serve the occupation’s agenda”.

• israel
• palestine
• justice reform
• protests
• hamas
• supreme court
• knesset
• democratic backsliding