Benjamin Netanyahu press conference – Haim Zach (GPO) May 2023
The controversial judicial reform plan of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government returned to the center of Israel’s political debate once the Shavuot holiday weekend ended. More than 85,000 people packed a Tel Aviv demonstration against the reforms held Saturday night and Sunday morning Israel’s opposition leaders went back out on the attack on the matter. Meanwhile, the Netanyahu government is also set to propose a new bill in the Knesset on Zionism called, “Zionism as a Guiding Value.”
The new bill was proposed by Israel’s Minister for the Development of the Periphery, the Negev and the Galilee Yitzhak Wasserlauf. Wasserlauf is a member of the right-wing religious Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Strength) Party led by Israel’s controversial Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir.
The proposed new law states that Zionism and the values enumerated in the “nationality law” will be anchored in the policies and actions of the government. Netanyahu himself stated, “This proposal is important and it should be passed in the wording that was presented because the planning institutions themselves determine policy and this is an absurd situation.”
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But Israel’s ultra-orthodox parties, which are integral to Netanyahu’s coalition government, are not happy with the proposed new bill because they are non-Zionists; these parties say they oppose what they call political Zionism – the idea that the State of Israel is the legitimate Jewish State – because it is not a state based on the Tora and Jewish law. They hold this position even as they take part in Israel’s political system and accept funding for their communities raised by the taxation of Israelis.
And Israel’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara was reported in Israeli media as opposing the proposed law. She is expected to try and block it.
As a result, Itamar Ben-Gvir said that anyone who opposes his party’s new law is opposed to Zionism itself. Before Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting, Ben-Gvir stated, “Today is an important day on which we are bringing up a resolution in support of IDF soldiers, and Zionism as a guiding value.”
“I am hearing that there are all sorts of voices who want to oppose this,” added Ben-Gvir. “Anyone who opposes our resolution, anyone who objects to our statement that Zionism should be a guiding value, anyone who objects to our statement in support of IDF soldiers, is in effect turning themselves into an opponent of Zionism. I very, very much hope that we will not hear these voices.”
As far as the proposed judicial reforms, they include a new policy for the appointment of new Supreme Court justices that would give the government a majority of the votes on the committee which appoints them. Sensitive negotiations are currently going on at the President’s residence in Jerusalem in an effort to come to some sort of compromise on the reform plan.
But, the deadline for appointing new representatives to the committee is coming on June 15. Israel media reported Sunday that opposition leaders warned if Netanyahu does not go forward with the standard appointment of members from the opposition to it they will walk out of the talks.
