Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Germany was overshadowed by a bitter dispute over judicial reform that the new right-wing religious government is pushing forward. Speaking at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the SPD politician told the state guest that events in Israel were being followed in Berlin with “great concern”.
The independence of the judiciary is “a high democratic asset,” Scholz said in Berlin on Thursday. Our wish is that our partner in values, Israel, remains a liberal democracy. He also expressed the hope that Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog’s compromise proposal is not yet off the table. Netanyahu called the proposal “unbalanced” for his part. He explained that the next few weeks would be “challenging”. He couldn’t compete with the sheer number of reports on judicial reform, but time would prove him right. “Israel is a liberal democracy and we will remain a liberal democracy.”
In any case, it is “not true” that his government wants to undermine the independence of the judiciary. An independent judiciary is not an all-powerful judiciary, Netanyahu said. “We will do everything we can to correct the imbalance.” The planned reform should change that. “We will not deviate an inch from this,” the Israeli prime minister stressed.
Protesters attacked in Israel
Netanyahu’s right-wing religious government wants to push through the controversial reform in an accelerated process by the end of the month. The government wants to use the reform, among other things, to increase its influence in the selection of judges and to limit the powers of the Supreme Court to overturn laws. She justifies this with the accusation that judges have interfered excessively in politics. Critics see the separation of powers as a pillar of democracy in danger. There were protests against the project in Berlin and in Israel – including on Thursday.
There was talk of tens of thousands of people. In the coastal city of Tel Aviv, among others, people gathered in numerous places until late in the evening. Sometimes there were violent attacks with the police. At times, the demonstrators also blocked the main thoroughfare to Jerusalem. There were also several incidents of attacks by passersby or drivers on demonstrators. At least 20 people have been arrested across the country, according to media reports.
The demonstrations also featured numerous women in long red coats and white bonnets – based on characters from the TV series “The Handmaid’s Tale”. The performance is based on a dystopian story about a dictatorship in which women in particular are oppressed. The demonstrators thus express their fear that Israel could move in such a political direction if the judiciary were weakened.
The president’s proposal
President Herzog said in a speech on Wednesday evening that changes in the distribution of power between the three powers were needed. However, this requires a broad consensus. Herzog published a plan on the internet that would simultaneously strengthen parliament and government while ensuring an independent judiciary.
Source: Krone
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