Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that he will drop the most controversial part of the planned judicial reform. This would have allowed Parliament to overturn Supreme Court rulings. Netanyahu told the Wall Street Journal that he would also revise another controversial element of the reform that would have given the ruling coalition more power to appoint judges. The conservative politician, who leads a partially right-wing government, left it open what the new version would look like. “I pay attention to the public pulse and what I think will hold up,” Netanyahu stressed.
Mass protests against reform for months
Tens of thousands of Israelis have been demonstrating against the planned judicial reform for months. In the wake of the mass protests and the threat of extensive strikes, the government postponed its plans at the end of March. Last week, members of the Knesset began debating the bill.
The originally planned reform would have allowed Israel’s government to overrule Supreme Court rulings on the basis of a simple parliamentary majority, as well as giving the cabinet control over the appointment of chief justices. The government had said the reform was necessary to rein in judges and strike a proper balance between the elected government and the judiciary.
Democracy in Israel at risk?
Critics, on the other hand, see this as a threat to the independence of the judiciary and thus to democracy in Israel. They also see it as an attempt by Netanyahu to limit the independence of the court. The prime minister is currently on trial over bribery allegations. The planned changes also raised concerns in the West about Israel’s democratic constitution and scared off investors.
sti/djo (rtr, WSJ)
Source: DW
