Israel Supreme Court Jerusalem (Wikipedia)
Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition’s controversial judicial reform plan is back at the center stage of Israeli politics as the country returns to its regular daily cycle now that the extended Passover/Independence Day holiday period has ended. And apparently, the Netanyahu government has a new plan brewing for the country’s attorney general’s office that will likely cause even more dissent, according to a report in Israel’s YNET – the Hebrew Yediot Ahronot daily newspaper.
In Israel, political debates are at the center of the culture, above any sport or form of entertainment. But ever since the government announced its judicial reforms a few months ago there has been an unprecedented explosion of political discourse and feuding in the country. Even Israel’s ceremonial President Isaac Herzog broke with tradition, and meddled in politics by offering his services as a mediator on the matter between the sides. And when he did so Herzog begged for calm saying he feared violence and even a possible civil war.
So, if the report in YNET proves true, then Israel is in real trouble. The current plan calls for curtailing the authority of the attorney general, who in Israel is an independent official and not a cabinet member or member of the Knesset. Currently, the attorney general is appointed by a sitting government and serves for a term of six years, even through new elections. The Hebrew name of the post literally means “legal advisor” to the government and it’s the word advisor that the Netanyahu government.
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Until now the plan – (among other things) was just to limit the attorney general to being an advisor – and each government ministry in Israel has a legal advisor too who would also be limited to being just that – and not someone empowered to issue orders prohibiting government actions.
But now, word has come that the Benjamin Netanyahu government also wants to end the six-year term and have the attorney general serve only for the duration of a government. So not only will any new government be able to appoint a new one to its liking, since governments in Israel – like the last one – have been known to have short lives of even just one year.
This is just part of why the judicial reform plan is so controversial.
The government’s judicial reform plan would also greatly curtail the power of Israel’s Supreme Court to nullify legislation passed by the Knesset. The opposition charges this would harm Israel’s democracy, eroding foreign confidence in the country and hurting its economy. And this is why the country is now on the brink of what some are describing as the biggest societal clash in Israel’s history.
