From the article Israel’s ‘Far-Right Government Backs Down’ in The Daily, there have been massive protests in Israel recently. The cause of these protests has been the government’s decision, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to forcefully make changes in the Supreme Court. The stakeholders in this issue are the Israeli government, the citizens, and the judiciary. One of the worst political crises in modern Israeli history has resulted from the proposals, which would effectively give the government control over the appointment of Supreme Court judges and allow parliament to reject many court judgments(Wright). The Palestinian community in the country is also a stakeholder in the judicial issue.
In response to pleas for restraint from the United Nations, the European Union, and the United States, Netanyahu has mobilized reserve border police officers and ordered the army to strengthen security posts to avoid conflict. Crowds gathered in central Tel Aviv to demonstrate against measures they saw as an existential danger to Israeli democracy by waving the blue and white Israeli flags that have become a defining feature of the demonstrations over the past three months(Wright).
To undermine Israel’s judiciary, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition wants to give the government more authority over nominations and the ability to overturn Supreme Court rulings with a simple parliamentary majority. Many right-wing Israelis consider the court as a barrier to their goals of reshaping Israeli society in a more religious and nationalist direction since the court has occasionally prevented settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. Nonetheless, the court serves as the cornerstone of a system that preserves Jewish supremacy, which makes it difficult for Palestinian citizens of Israel to enjoy political equality. The Prime Minister believes that the policy will bring some balance between the three arms of government. However, the opposers of the procedure believe that the government is trying to undermine democracy.
No minority group in Israel, a nation that identifies as Jewish, is more at risk than Palestinian citizens who are not Jews. But the significant rallies that have wracked the country in recent weeks have mostly been absent Palestinian inhabitants of Israel, who make up roughly 20% of its citizenry. These protests purportedly aimed to defend Israel’s judiciary and preserve its democracy. Whether they are Israeli citizens or not, protesting the Israeli government can result in death for Palestinians. Israeli Jews are demonstrating to keep the Supreme Court, the state’s most dependable ally, in allowing this harsh repression and abuse against Palestinians. They have no interest in risking their lives to defend the court that permits the state to execute them (Munayyer).
Palestinians have been a relatively small part of the protests in Israel, but they are very much about Palestine. The fact that Israel doesn’t have a constitution is one of the factors contributing to the continuing power struggle between its various government branches. Because it would have limited state power, such a charter was not enacted in 1948 or at any other time later. For instance, establishing equal rights would have made it more difficult for Israel to complete its most significant undertaking: the ongoing occupation of Palestine (Munayyer).
Israelis must understand the fundamentals of the discussion they need to have to step back from the edge. Those protesting the government’s plan to overhaul the court in the streets in recent weeks claimed to be standing up for Israeli democracy. Yet it would be more correct to argue that they were protesting for crucial democratic restrictions. They insisted and were correct that Israel’s legislature did not allow a small majority to violate the foundations of a free society (Levin).
The Israeli government was not advocating fascism when it sought to rein in a runaway judiciary. It promoted majority rule, which is a fundamental tenet of democracy. An elected legislative majority made a valid complaint that the courts frequently act without having any basis in the legislation passed by the people’s legislators. Judicial independence refers to freedom from political influence rather than from the law. Courts must follow the actual language of the statutes passed by elected legislators rather than what judges believe the law ought to state (Levin).
In the end, judges must be chosen in a manner that is directly accountable to the public, even if they are selected from outside of a formalized selection process and with safeguards against pressure once they are in office. The whims of government ministers are not more, but somewhat less, legitimate than those of the judiciary. But a developed democratic republic shouldn’t run its affairs in either of these ways.
It is essential to raise awareness of the injustices happening in society. When people know of the different forms of injustice in their community, they develop ways to fight the oppression. Awareness is also critical because it can help the oppressors change their ways. In some cases, people do not know that some activities they engage in promote oppression. Awareness of the injustices has the effect of enlightening the people who will try to avoid the acts. Understanding also helps in giving the oppressed a voice to communicate their plight.
References
Levin, Yuval. “The Solution to Israel’s Crisis Might Be in America’s Constitution.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 31 Mar. 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/31/opinion/israel-protests-united-states-constitution.html.
Munayyer, Yousef. “Why Palestinians Aren’t Joining Israel’s Protests.” Foreign Policy, 7 Apr. 2023, https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/04/07/israel-palestine-protests-judicial-reform-supreme-court-netanyahu-apartheid/.
Wright, George. “Israel Sees One of Its Biggest-Ever Protests.” BBC News, BBC, 12 Mar. 2023, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64929563.
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