Netanyahu Attacks Democracy in Israel

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Tel Aviv - From blocking highways to forming human chains, and dressing up as characters from Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, for 3 months, up to half a million Israelis have taken to the streets across the country to protest a judicial overhaul planned by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. The growing revolt piled pressure on Netanyahu to suspend the overhaul until parliament reconvenes at the end of April.
 
There are many layers to it but here’s what’s important. Firstly, this overhaul will give the ruling coalition a majority on that committee and that will allow them to place like-minded judges on the bench. The second pillar of the judicial overhaul is to limit the jurisdiction of the court, which brings the question to mind, what cases will the court be able to hear? The third point and probably the most controversial bit is the Override Clause. This will allow a simple majority of parliament, meaning 61 of 120 lawmakers, to override decisions of the Supreme Court. Netanyahu and his coalition partners say that this judicial overhaul is necessary in order to balance out the court.
 
As for people who oppose the overhaul, they believe it will undermine the Supreme Court completely and are essentially protesting against the degradation of Israeli democracy. These protests have exposed long-held divisions in Israeli society, between its secular side, and its religious, more conservative side. One of the major problems for the protesters is that it’s being advanced by Netanyahu himself. He has long been a defender of the Court and protesters ask themselves the reason for Netanyahu’s sudden support of this massive judicial overhaul. The answer is quite clear. Benjamin Netanyahu is currently on trial for corruption and if this overhaul passes, it is believed that he will use it in order to get out of his own legal problems.
 
According to The New York Times, Netanyahu has received “sharp criticism from President Biden over his government’s contentious overhaul plan”. The U.S. President remarked, that “they cannot continue down this road — I’ve sort of made that clear”. In turn, Netanyahu responded by saying he appreciates Biden’s long-standing commitment to Israel, but he added that “Israel is a sovereign country which makes its decisions by the will of its people and not based on pressures from abroad, including from the best of friends.”

Israel sees one of its biggest protests

Biden voices concern over Netanyahu's judicial overhaul

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