Netanyahu pushes legal changes despite uproar
Mass of protesters gathers near Knesset to rally against plan
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on Tuesday for the first time advanced a plan to overhaul the country’s legal system, defying a mass uproar among Israelis and calls for restraint from the United States.
The vote marked only preliminary approval for the plan. But it raised the stakes in a political battle that drew tens of thousands of protesters into the streets, sparked criticism from influential sectors of society and widened the rifts in an already polarized country.
The 63-47 vote after midnight gave initial approval to a plan that would give Netanyahu’s coalition more power over who becomes a judge. It is part of a broader package of changes that seeks to weaken the country’s Supreme Court and transfer more power to the ruling coalition.
Before the vote, tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the parliament, or Knesset, for a second consecutive week to rally against the plan.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies, a collection of ultrareligious and ultranationalist lawmakers, say the plan is meant to fix a system that has given the courts and government legal advisers too much say in how legislation is crafted and decisions are made.
Critics fear that judges will be appointed based on their loyalty to the government or prime minister — and say that Netanyahu, who faces trial on corruption charges, has a conflict of interest in the legislation.
The showdown has plunged Israel into one of its most bitter domestic crises, with both sides insisting that the future of democracy is at stake in their Middle Eastern country. Israeli Palestinians, a minority that may have the most to lose by the overhaul, have mostly stayed on the sidelines, due to discrimination they face at home and Israel’s ongoing 55-year occupation of their Palestinian brethren in the West Bank.
The legislators cast their votes after a vitriolic debate that dragged on past midnight. During the session, opposition lawmakers chanted, “shame,” and wrapped themselves in the Israeli flag — and some were ejected from the hall.
Ahead of the vote, Netanyahu accused the demonstrators of violence and said they were ignoring the will of the people who voted his coalition into power last November.
“The people exercised their right to vote in the elections and the people’s representatives will exercise their right to vote here in Israel’s Knesset. It’s called democracy,” Netanyahu said, though he left the door open for dialogue on the planned changes.
The vote on part of the legislation is just the first of three readings required for parliamentary approval, a process that is expected to take months.
Nonetheless, the opposition saw Monday’s vote as the coalition’s determination to barrel ahead.
“We are fighting for our children’s future, for our country’s future. We don’t intend to give up,” said opposition leader Yair Lapid.
Israel’s figurehead president has urged the government to freeze the legislation and seek a compromise with the opposition, a position supported by most polls.
Leaders in the booming tech sector have warned that weakening the judiciary could drive away investors.
The overhaul has prompted otherwise stoic former security chiefs to speak out, and even warn of civil war. The plan has even sparked rare warnings from the U.S., Israel’s chief international ally.
U.S. Ambassador Tom Nides told a podcast over the weekend that Israel should “pump the brakes” on the legislation and seek a consensus on reform that would protect Israel’s democratic institutions.
His comments drew angry responses from Netanyahu allies, telling Nides to stay out of Israel’s internal affairs.
Simcha Rothman, a far-right lawmaker leading the legislative initiative, presented the proposal to the Knesset during a stormy debate. Several opposition lawmakers were escorted out of the hall by security for screaming at him, while a spectator was carried away by guards from the viewing gallery after smashing the protective glass in anger.
The standoff has plunged Israel into one of its greatest domestic crises, sharpening a divide between Israelis over the character of their state and the values they believe should guide it.
“We are fighting for our children’s future, for our country’s future. We don’t intend to give up,” opposition leader Yair Lapid told a meeting of his party in the Knesset.