Israel’s Netanyahu moving ahead on legal overhaul despite outcry

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday his government plans to charge ahead with an overhaul of the country’s judicial system, despite fierce criticism from top legal officials and protests against the changes that drew tens of thousands of people.

Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, has made the legal changes the centerpiece of his new government’s agenda and the surging opposition to them is presenting an early challenge for the Israeli leader. Opponents claim that the changes could enable Netanyahu to avoid a conviction in his corruption trial.

The Supreme Court would lose its power. This overhaul would give legislators the power to repeal laws passed by the court with a simple majority. Additionally, the government would have greater control over the appointment and independence of legal advisers.

The proposed changes have sparked an outcry from the Supreme Court’s top justice, who in rare criticism called the overhaul an “unbridled attack on the justice system.” The country’s attorney general has also spoken out against the plan, as have many of her predecessors, and tens of thousands protested the proposed changes in Tel Aviv on Saturday.

Netanyahu stated to his Cabinet that despite the opposition, voters had cast their ballots for him in support of his promise to reform the justice system.

“We will complete legislating the reforms in a way that will correct what needs correcting, will totally protect individual rights and will restore the public’s faith in the justice system that so much requires this reform,” Netanyahu said.

Sunday’s poll revealed a more complicated picture.

According to the survey, 58% of Israelis think the Supreme Court should be able to reverse laws passed by parliament in cases that are inconsistent with democratic principles. The Israel Democracy Institute conducted the survey just before the election. It questioned 1,092 people. There was a margin error of 2.8%.

The poll was part of the nonpartisan institute’s annual “Israeli Democracy Index.” The same survey, however, found that public trust by Israeli Jews in the Supreme Court fell to 42% last year, down from a multiyear average of 59.5%. According to the poll, trust in parliament was only 18.5%. Levels of trust were slightly lower among the country’s Arab minority.

There have been calls in the past to reform Israel’s justice system, which was given greater clout in the 1990s and has been seen since by critics as being too interventionist in the process of lawmaking. But the sweeping changes sought by Netanyahu’s justice minister have raised an alarm among opponents who see them as a death knell to Israel’s system of checks and balances and in turn, its democratic fundamentals.

Netanyahu and his allies see the changes as a way to ease the process of governance and recalibrate what they say is an imbalance between the country’s executive and judicial branches.

The proposed changes, tabled weeks after the government was sworn in, have exposed how deeply polarized Israeli society is, torn between preserving the country’s liberal and democratic ideals or shifting away from them. They have also shown how quickly the country’s government, its most right-wing ever, is intent on advancing its policies, many of which have sparked criticism, including from unexpected quarters.

Netanyahu is the head of a government made up of ultranationalist and ultraorthodox parties. They have had their plans thwarted in the past by Supreme Court decisions or poor counsel from government legal advisors. It was because of this that they made sure legal reforms were a top priority in negotiations to form a government. Netanyahu, keen to return power, seemed to be generous with his partners during the talks.

One of those concessions was the promise to put Avi Maoz (head of a small, extreme, religious ultranationalist party that has repeatedly spouted antiLGBTQ rhetoric), in charge of certain education programs. The Cabinet approved the promise Sunday, despite protests from Israeli parents and mayors when it was first discussed.

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog, who normally wields a largely symbolic role, has stepped in to bridge the divide over the judicial changes. In a statement, Herzog said he was working to avert “a historic constitutional crisis” in a series of meetings with political figures. On Saturday, hundreds protested in front of his Jerusalem residence.

Netanyahu claimed that the overhaul would be done cautiously and under parliamentary supervision.