Israel
Controversial justice reform takes a step
On Tuesday, Israeli lawmakers agreed to change the process for appointing judges and render courts incompetent to try certain acts.
Published
Israeli President Isaac Herzog expressed concern after parliament’s decision.
AFP/Photo d’archives
The Israeli Parliament approved on Tuesday in first reading two flagship provisions of a very controversial reform of the judicial system, in a climate of growing political polarization. While the opponents of the text fear an anti-democratic drift in the country, the President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, who has tried in vain until now to establish a dialogue between the pros and the anti-reform, in order to reach a text more consensual, again expressed fears for national unity after Parliament’s decision.
In an overnight vote, MPs approved by 63 votes to 47 a provision changing the process for appointing judges and another making the courts incompetent to try acts or decisions they deem to conflict with the laws fundamentals, which serve as the Constitution.
“Derogation” clause
Another highly contested provision of the reform, the introduction of an ‘override’ clause allowing Parliament to overrule certain Supreme Court decisions by a simple majority, is to be voted on in first reading at a later date among others also contentious points.
“This morning is difficult” and “many people fear for the unity of the nation,” said Isaac Herzog, whose role is essentially ceremonial. “We must make every effort to continue the dialogue after this vote, to reach a negotiated framework to get us out of this difficult period,” he said at a conference in Jerusalem.
The project has mobilized a strong part of public opinion against it since its announcement, at the beginning of January, by the government formed the previous month by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) with far-right parties and ultra-Orthodox Jewish formations .
«Dialogue sans condition»
In Tel Aviv, demonstrations take place every Saturday evening, bringing together tens of thousands of protesters – a sign of a massive mobilization across the country – who denounce en bloc this project but also the general policy of the government, a right-wingers in Israel’s history.
On Monday, in Jerusalem, several tens of thousands of people demonstrated around Parliament against the vote, without influencing the determination of the government and its majority to move forward with their project. The session was interrupted by incidents, including when opposition MPs, draped in Israeli colours, shouted “Shame!” to their colleagues in the majority.
The provisions voted on overnight must return to the Parliamentary Law Commission for a new debate, and follow the process until a final vote at third reading on a date still unknown. After the night’s vote, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, father of the reform, called on opposition members to “come and discuss”. “We can come to agreements,” he said. “We need immediate dialogue, without preconditions,” said Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Unbridled Attack”
His predecessor and now opposition leader Yair Lapid accused the ruling coalition of pushing Israel towards civil war and urged the prime minister and his allies to immediately stop legislating on such reform.
“History will judge you for tonight, for attacking democracy, hurting the economy, hurting security, for smashing the unity of the people, and for not caring in the least “, he then wrote on Twitter.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Tuesday called on Israel to suspend its reform of the judicial system, worried about its consequences in terms of human rights and the independence of justice.
“Given the level of public and political concern, I call on the Israeli government to put the proposed legislative changes on hold and open them up to broader debate and reflection,” Volker Türk said after the Israeli parliament approved on Tuesday at first reading two flagship provisions of this controversial reform.
(AFP)