Published: 25 July 2023
Last updated: 5 March 2024
Mass protests as the Netanyahu government blocks the court from overturning political decisions that it deems unreasonable.
After weeks of protests and mass public opposition that have roiled Israel and divided society, the Knesset has given its final approval to the first major bill to pass in the government’s judicial overhaul.
The law abolishes the reasonableness standard, giving Israeli politicians unprecedented power to pass legislation without judicial oversight.
The bill passed with 64 votes in favour and 0 against, after opposition MKs boycotted the final vote on the bill in protest.
Within the Knesset, multiple last-minute attempts to amend the bill or to come to a broader procedural compromise with the opposition failed, and two compromise frameworks floated by a union leader and the president were rejected. A series of ideas for unilaterally softening the legislation, discussed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and key coalition leaders even as the Knesset prepared to vote, led nowhere.
As the Monday night deadline approached, protest in Israel reached fever pitch. Unprecedented numbers of reservists threatened to refuse to serve, a doctors’ group warned that the law constituted a health emergency, and tens of thousands of protesters marched to Jerusalem.
Israel’s president Isaac Herzog warned that the schism could lead to civil war.
But Netanyahu forged ahead, choosing to stabilise his far-Right and ultra-Orthodox coalition, who want to restrict the powers of the Supreme Court, rather than appease the fury of more liberal Israelis, Diaspora Jews and the international community.
Protests and police violence
Police estimated between 35,000 and 40,000 Israelis joined a four-day march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to protest the bill. Drone footage showed the marchers extending for almost one kilometre. Despite temperatures in the mid-thirties, they set up a tent village in Sacher Park, close to the Knesset. Some attempted to storm the Knesset during the vote.
Protests also occurred for the 29th consecutive week at numerous locations across the country, including the main protest street in Tel Aviv. There was also a large rally in support of the government in Tel Aviv.
A total of 34 protesters were arrested. A driver was arrested after attempting to ram a group of anti-government protesters with his car.
Police violence against protesters reached new levels, with the use of mounted police, water cannons, riot police and, in two cases, sound cannons in an attempt to disperse protesters. Dozens of protesters reported injuries.
Shahar Ginossar, 61, a journalist and father of two from Tel Aviv, lost consciousness after being hit by water cannon from five or six metres away. He knows what happened only from seeing video of the event. “I was hurled back onto the road, and the thrust of the water dragged me for a few more metres as I was lying on the road. I have zero memory of falling. I woke up at Ichilov [hospital] with a fractured eye socket, stitches on my face and a knee injury.”
Health, defence systems threatened
The Israel Medical Association called a one-day strike on Tuesday following the passage of the bill. Emergency services will not be affected.
The chairman of the Association of Public Health Physicians, Professor Hagai Levine, warned that abolishing the reasonableness standard was a health emergency that would cost lives. “The minister of health has very broad powers, and if he’s not obligated to act in a reasonable manner, he will be able to declare the closure of the entire medical system even though the situation does not justify it, and he will be able to decide, in mid-epidemic, that he is not going to do anything…,” he said.
Army refusals also reached a new high. Some 10,000 Israel Defence Forces reservists announced they would suspend their volunteer reserve duty in protest. The move is the latest to send shockwaves through the IDF, which is struggling to stem a growing flood of reserve troops dropping out of volunteer duty to protest the overhaul, as defence officials warn the phenomenon could affect national preparedness.
“We’ve tried everything, This is where we draw the line. We pledged to serve the kingdom and not the king. We are determined, we are fighters, we love this country and we will not give up on it,” said Eyal Nave, one of the leaders of the military protest group Brothers in Arms said at a media conference on Saturday.
Nearly 500 active reservists in the Military Intelligence Directorate also issued a letter announcing that they were suspending their volunteer reserve duty in protest at the overhaul.
Palestinian and Islamist response
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah welcomed the political turmoil in Israel surrounding the government’s changes to the legal system, and defined it as the “worst day in Israel's history”.
"There was a time when it was believed that Israel could not be defeated, and that its army was invincible. Many countries in the region considered its threat as an undeniable fact that cannot be removed," said the head of the Shiite terror organisation in Lebanon.
The Palestinian Authority, Hamas and other major Palestinian factions have avoided commenting directly on the crisis. But political analysts and columnists have expressed a sense of satisfaction that Israel is in crisis and especially that IDF reservists are refusing to serve. On social media, the hashtag “The [Zionist] Entity is Collapsing” has been trending almost since the beginning of the widespread protests in Israel.
Diaspora disappointment
Diaspora Jewish groups were quick to condemn the decision which has divided Israel and Diaspora Jewry. The Jewish Independent’s Crossroads23 survey showed only 14% of Australian Jews surveyed support the judicial overhaul.
The American Jewish Committee, one of the oldest pro-Israel groups in the US, expressed “profound disappointment” at the vote and said it is “gravely concerned” that it will deepen divisions in Israeli society.
British Jewish organisations also expressed "deep disappointment" saying the preservation of a Jewish democratic state should be a priority of Jews worldwide.
International reaction
The Biden administration said it was "unfortunate" that the Israeli parliament had ratified part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's contested judicial overhaul plan.
"We understand talks are ongoing and likely to continue over the coming weeks and months to forge a broader compromise even with the Knesset in recess. The United States will continue to support the efforts of President [Isaac] Herzog and other Israeli leaders as they seek to build a broader consensus through political dialogue.
Germany's Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Monday expressing that it "very much regrets that the negotiations between the government and the opposition, mediated by President Isaac Herzog, have failed for the time being."
READ MORE
Despite massive opposition and after failed compromise talks, Knesset okays reasonableness law(Times of Israel)
March reaches Jerusalem as judicial reform protests flood Israel (Jerusalem Post)
‘Blood Everywhere’: As Israel’s Protests Ramp Up, the Police Crack Down (Haaretz)
Judicial Overhaul Legislation ‘Will Cost Lives. Health Care Will Suffer a Mortal Blow’ (Haaretz)
‘This is where we draw the line’: 10,000 more reservists to stop volunteering (Times of Israel)
Hezbollah's Nasrallah: 'The worst day in the history of Israel' (Ynet)
What are the Palestinians saying about Israel’s judicial reform crisis? (Jerusalem Post)
ANALYSIS
Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul victory spells a tragic, disastrous defeat for Israel (David Horovitz, Times of Israel)
Passing the ‘reasonableness’ law, he chose the unity of his hardline coalition over his key responsibility as prime minister: the unity of the nation.
Netanyahu is now Israel's weakest prime minister ever (Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz)
Until the moment the bill eliminating the reasonableness standard passed, three men had the power to decide if a compromise was reached in Jerusalem today. Benjamin Netanyahu, the man who dragged Israel into the most fateful internal crisis in its history, is not one of them.
The war of attrition on Israel's democracy has begun (Nadav Eyal, Ynet)
Instead of leading, Netanyahu allowed Israel to be led into an abyss that will continue to tear apart Israeli society until a democratic consensus is reached.
Watch Israeli journalist: If Bibi govt. keeps pushing full judicial overhaul, it could be catastrophic (Noa Landau, CNN)
Noa Landau, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Haaretz, talks to Christiane Amanpour about the protests in Israel over Netanyahu's government passing a controversial judicial reform bill.
