We are watching Israel build an authoritarian government in real time
New StatesmanJan 18, 2023
Thousands Rally in Support of Israel’s Judicial Overhaul
Image copyright: Reuters [via The New York Times]
The Facts
Tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated in Jerusalem on Thursday in support of a contentious judicial overhaul bill spearheaded by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition government that would see the power of the country's highest court considerably downsized.
Over 150K pro-government Israelis reportedly took to the streets, making the demonstrations the largest right-wing protest in the country in nearly two decades. Protesters came from all over Israel, with settlers living in the occupied West Bank also attending.
The Spin
Left narrative
The judicial overhaul spearheaded by Netanyahu and his most extreme allies shows, despite a legitimate right 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.
Right narrative
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 to protect the rule of law.
Pro-Palestine narrative
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 have protested against the overhaul in the first place is that they want to maintain a system that has oppressed Palestinians for 75 years.