by Leonid Tsukanov
[REGNUM] Benjamin Netanyahu's government has made a breakthrough in the implementation of judicial reform. One of the central laws was adopted in the third reading, placing judges under the control of the Israeli government and curtailing the independence of the Supreme Court (BAGATS).
The bill was pushed through literally "on the shoulders" of the coalition and sympathetic deputies: it was supported by 67 out of 120 Knesset members. The opposition boycotted the vote almost entirely, while not missing the opportunity to accuse the prime minister's supporters of "deepening the national rift."
| They doth protest entirely too much — in both senses |
"REPRESSIVE INSTRUMENT"
Netanyahu's war with the High Court goes back to April 2023, when the prime minister sought to weaken the Supreme Court's influence on Israeli politics by taking away from the parliamentary opposition a powerful lever of pressure on the government - even if that meant undermining the court's authority.
It was then that the judicial reform was launched in the country, around which many lances were broken. In particular, the Law on the Status of Judges, which turned the previous mechanism for their selection upside down, caused heated debates.
Under the new model, the judicial commission will consist of nine members: four people will represent the ruling coalition, two will represent the opposition. Previously, an equal number of delegates were introduced to the commission from both camps.
The remaining three members of the commission are the chairman and two judges of the Supreme Court. The majority required to elect judges will be five people, but on the condition that at least one of them is a representative of the coalition and one of the opposition.
The reform will thus make Israel's judicial institutions more dependent on the central government's course and avoid "unnecessary legal fuss," encouraging the High Court and the government to work together. At least, that's what the Netanyahu camp thinks.
The opposition has a different opinion on this matter. It is convinced that with the adoption of the law, the ruling coalition will be able to push its candidates into the Supreme Court and other courts, turning them over time from an independent branch of power into a "repressive instrument."
THE PRIME MINISTER'S MULTI-MOVE
Why did the Israeli Prime Minister need to so rudely violate the balance between the branches of power? Especially at a time when the country is involved in an armed confrontation with Hamas, and any abrupt maneuver could split the Knesset.
There are several reasons for this. The most obvious one is the desire to strengthen the position of the cabinet of ministers as much as possible.
During the current government's tenure, the Supreme Court has at least several times put Netanyahu's ministers in an awkward position by torpedoing decisions already agreed upon at all levels, which did not add to the harmony of the motley coalition. Bringing the judges under control means avoiding losing control over the cabinet.
In addition, the High Court continues to pressure the coalition to conduct an investigation into the causes of the failure on October 7, 2023. The term of his “legal ultimatum” expires in mid-May, and by that time Netanyahu hopes to ease the pressure on the authorities from the families of the hostages through the courts with the help of reforms. And then to conduct a campaign against Hamas within the limits he deems necessary.
Finally, the prime minister himself needs control over the judges in order to extricate himself from a series of high-profile scandals that have followed him throughout his term, be it corruption connections or leaks from the government office.
Considering that it is through the High Court that the opposition is trying to overthrow Netanyahu, the prime minister’s desire to deprive his opponents of their main trump card is entirely natural.
Overall, he positions the shake-up of the Supreme Court as shock therapy that will deprive the opposition of the temptation to disrupt the work of the government using legal loopholes, and discourage the judicial community from playing big politics.
LEGAL RING
It should be noted that Netanyahu also has personal scores to settle with the judicial system.
In the winter of 2023, the prime minister was forced, under pressure from the Supreme Court, to dismiss Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, who had an outstanding conviction for corruption.
Given that Deri's post was the result of "inter-party bargaining," the break with him dealt a major blow to the stability of the governing coalition, forcing Netanyahu to move closer to the "hawks" led by Itamar Ben-Gvir, which brought the alliance to the brink of a split at least several times.
For this reason, Netanyahu has recently not been too concerned about maintaining the balance of power between the branches of government and has sometimes taken openly confrontational steps.
Among these, for example, is the dismissal of the government's legal adviser, Gali Baharav-Miara, who was considered a "balancer" between the government and the High Court of Justice.
Of course, in legal sparring the initiative is not entirely with the prime minister's camp. Sometimes his subordinates also take hits, losing their seats.
For example, the Supreme Court managed to torpedo the extension of the term of the director of the Civil Service Administration, Roi Kahlon, Netanyahu's "political valet."
The resignation process of the head of counterintelligence Ronen Bar was also extended as much as possible. And the prime minister's office was inundated with amendments in the hope that the apologists for judicial reform would get lost in the legal nooks and crannies.
However, this tactic apparently did not work - Netanyahu managed to push the law through to the third reading.
COUNTER MOVE
However, even with the controversial law close to being enacted, supporters of Supreme Court independence continue to resist.
The opposition is trying to use its last legal levers to, if not sink, then at least delay the reform as much as possible.
Thus, the Yesh Atid party, the largest opposition force in Israel in terms of the number of mandates, filed a petition with the High Court of Justice criticizing the bill within the first hour after the end of the vote. Later, other opposition and public forces joined it.
At the same time, the opposition is mobilizing protest potential. Doctors' and teachers' unions are threatening mass strikes, and industrialists are preparing an open letter to the Israeli authorities.
The army is wavering. On the one hand, Netanyahu has prudently placed loyal "hawks" in key positions in the army, thereby weakening the influence of the "generals' opposition" sitting in the Knesset. The military is not showing much interest in what will happen to the Supreme Court.
On the other hand, the army still has an unpaid debt. In the summer of 2024, the High Court of Justice, ignoring the position of the Israeli cabinet, lifted the previous ban on the conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews into the armed forces, thereby ensuring an influx of recruits at a time when the army needed fresh blood.
The "shoulder straps" will most likely have to make a choice in the near future.
Be that as it may, the opposition's activities have not had a noticeable impact on the government's course, although they have made quite a lot of noise. Netanyahu and his supporters intend to see the judicial reform through to the end, regardless of image or political losses.
Or, at least, to distract the public from the hackneyed topic of the “October 7 catastrophe.”
Until this date, Netanyahu had been under severe pressure from the streets, but in the conditions of continuous military actions in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Gaza again, the prime minister does not have to worry about this factor. After all, war is not the time for civil protests.