We are watching Israel build an authoritarian government in real time
New StatesmanJan 18, 2023
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday announced that the votes of the two remaining readings of his government's divisive judicial overhaul plan would be delayed until the next legislative session, citing the need to reach an agreement to prevent dividing the country.
On Saturday night, Netanyahu decided to sack Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant after he urged the government to halt its plans to change the country's judiciary, arguing that the internal rift over the legislation had become a threat to national security.
This move by Netanyahu and his most extreme allies shows, despite a legitimate rightward shift in the electorate, the Prime Minister has less control over his coalition than once thought. Facing scrutiny over bribery and fraud charges, the only way Netanyahu can maintain his power is by ripping apart Israel's long-standing democratic institutions and criminalizing judicial dissent. We are watching an authoritarian coup unfold in real time.
Despite the left arguing that these judicial reform plans threaten democracy, the reality is quite the opposite. The self-appointed Israeli Supreme Court has autocratic, unchecked powers that allow it to nullify and rewrite democratically-enacted laws and policies based on subjective justifications. Consequently, the move is crucial to curb the court's undemocratic excesses and protect the rule of law.
Though there's much talk from the Israeli left that the country's democracy is under threat, for Palestinians it has never been a democracy. Apartheid and democracy are mutually exclusive, and the only reason Israelis are protesting in the first place is their desire to maintain the system that has oppressed Palestinians for 75 years.
There's a 58% chance that Israel will have a national election for Knesset in 2023, according to the Metaculus prediction community.