In November 2022, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu returned as Prime Minister of Israel.
Now, Israel does not have a written Constitution. The Knesset (the Israeli Parliament is called Knesset) has passed some laws over the years. These laws form the overall legal framework in the country.
Mr. Netanyahu is under investigation for corruption charges.
One of the first things the new government did, was to propose legal (legal: related to law) changes.
What are the proposed changes in Israel?
Under the proposed changes:
A. The Knesset would be able to overturn the decisions of the Israeli Supreme Court by a simple majority.
B. The government would appoint more representatives on the committee that selects judges, including the judges of the Supreme Court.
C. Currently, ministers have to follow the advice of their legal advisors. Under the new system, that will not be legally necessary. The legal advisors are guided by the Attorney General of Israel.
Why is the government doing this?
The government believes that the Supreme Court has been practising judicial overreach.
The government and the judiciary have ideological differences.
Who is protesting?
The political opponents of Netanyahu, led by the leader of the Opposition, Yair Lapid, have been leading the protests.
Many citizens are participating in the protests.
Within the cabinet, while the Finance Minister, Mr. Bezalel Smotrich, and the Security Minister, Mr. Itamar Ben Gvir, support the legal changes, the Defense Minister, Mr. Yoav Gallant spoke against the move.
Things come to a head – Quick Turn of Events
On March 24th, one of the laws in the new system was passed by the Knesset.
On March 26th night, the Defence Minister was fired by Netanyahu.
This led to massive public protests and strikes.
These strikes by public workers forced Israel to close all of its 75 Embassies and 23 Consulates worldwide.
Flights from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv were also temporarily stopped because of the strikes.
Countries like the US and Germany expressed concern about the internal issues in Israel.
At about 6:30 pm local time (1520 GMT), Netanyahu came to the Knesset.
After he came to the Knesset, the state’s 2023-24 budget was given initial approval.
At about 1720 GMT (8:20 pm Israel time), Netanyahu announced that the legal reform will be postponed for now. He also agreed to a discussion with opposition members.
After this announcement, Israel’s main labour union called off its strike.
In the meantime, protestors who wanted the legal changes to go through started protesting in the city.
The opposition has now agreed to discuss the changes in the proposed laws.
At the time of writing this, the Israeli Embassy in the US had started to reopen, with the end of strike announced earlier. The Israeli Consulate in New York, Mr. Asaf Zamir, has resigned though.
Image Credit: Israel Government Press Office