ENHANCE - 2nd Quarter 2023

News Feature
Robin Lane
Political Crisis
in Israel
In the previous edition of ENHANCE we wrote
about the new Israeli government’s controversial
start to its time in power and expected ‘much more
controversy’ to follow. That expectation was exceeded
when Israel ran into a full-blown political crisis in the
last week of March.
Early differences with the Supreme Court were
highlighted late in January when Benjamin Netanyahu
was forced to dismiss Aryeh Deri as Interior minister
and Health minister because the court ruled those
appointments violated the legal principle of estoppel –
Deri had gone back on his word to the court in a hearing
one year before.
Growing protests
Much of the news then focused upon increasing conflict
with Palestinian terrorists, as Israel’s security forces
continued their operation ‘Break the Wave’. However,
a protest movement on the streets of Israel was growing
steadily, opposed to the government’s plans to reduce the
power of the Supreme Court.
On 21 st February, the Times of Israel’s editor, David
Horovitz, described the government’s plans as almost
completely neutering the court’s capacity to oppose new
laws – no matter how outrageous – and enabling the
government to easily override any court decision to strike
down a law.
He explained the concern of many, that Israel has ‘no
other brakes on abuse by the political leadership’ – no
constitution, no bill of rights, no second parliamentary
chamber, and no capacity in the Knesset to resist
legislation advanced by a majority government, even if
that majority is only one.’
Days of disruption
By the beginning of March, the protests had grown from
large-scale marches and setting up ad-hoc roadblocks
into plans for a national ‘day of disruption’. The tensions
in Israeli society even showed in Knesset committee
meetings, where members shouted at each other so loudly
that some had to be forcefully removed.
In contrast to almost daily security raids against terrorists
in towns like Jenin and Nablus – many of which led to
violence and gunfights – the political protests on the
streets of Israel were largely peaceful. Yet the government
was so confrontational that some Israelis started voicing
concerns that the dispute could lead to civil war.
Part of the dispute focused on proposed laws that directly
benefitted Benjamin Netanyahu and Aryeh Deri, as well
as other proposals that suited the ultra-orthodox parties in
the governing coalition. For a few days there was much
international concern over a proposal to ban Christians
from evangelising in Israel. But that proposal was quickly
withdrawn.
Protest - Tel Aviv, 28 January 2023 Photo: Oren Rozen
Impact upon the military
Nevertheless, some military reservists were so worried
about the reforms they withdrew from training days
and threatened to resign. With Israel’s enemies in Iran,
Syria, Lebanon and Gaza issuing more threats, that was a
significant problem for the new government. After days
of trying privately to persuade Benjamin Netanyahu to
slow the reforms down, Yoav Gallant, the Minister for
Defence, made a public appeal for a delay on Saturday 25 th
March.
The crisis erupts
That prompted Netanyahu to fire Gallant from his
ministerial post through a statement on Twitter at
around 10pm on the Sunday. This prompted massive
spontaneous street protests which lasted through until
4am on Monday 27 th March.
Those protests snowballed into a general strike that
closed Ben Gurion airport, shopping centres, banks,
local councils and some schools. Much of the country
ground to a halt and Netanyahu promised to speak to
the nation in the morning. However, there followed a
series of postponements before he finally made the public
announcement of a delay in the judicial reforms late that
evening. He was put under pressure by Itamar Ben Gvir
not to delay the new laws; but quoted Solomon’s biblical
wisdom in not cutting the baby in two.
A way forward
Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog immediately urged the
leaders to get on with negotiations straight away, and the
first meeting took place at his home the following evening.
However, increasing tension between the USA and Israel
also emerged. On that same day, Joe Biden told reporters
he hoped Netanyahu would “walk away” from his
current judicial overhaul legislation, saying he was “very
concerned” about the health of Israeli democracy, and that
“They cannot continue down this road. And I’ve sort of
made that clear.”
Netanyahu reacted strongly, confirming that “Israel is an
independent country that makes its decisions according to
the will of its citizens and not based on external pressures,
including from our best friends.”
There quickly followed a series of public statements
designed to play down that argument. But there is little
evidence emerging from the negotiations within Israel
as to the chances of reaching a suitable compromise
regarding the power of the Supreme Court. However,
Netanyahu did reinstate Gallant as Defence Minister on
Monday 10 th April.
10 ENHANCE • 2 nd Quarter 2023