CNN –
Israel’s parliament on Monday passed legislation stripping the Supreme Court of its powers to block government decisions. This is the first part of a planned judicial reform that has sharply divided Israeli society and drawn fierce criticism from the White House.
The controversial bill passed the Knesset by a vote of 64-0. All members of the ruling coalition voted in favor of the bill, while all opposition MPs walked out during the vote.
Huge crowds of angry protesters gathered outside and attempted to block access to the building. According to the Israeli police, they were shot at with barbed wire and water cannons and at least 19 people were arrested. Thousands of military reservists – including more than 1,100 Air Force officers – said before the law was passed that they would refuse to volunteer for duty if it did.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said he would submit a motion to the Supreme Court on Tuesday to block the law, urging military reservists not to stand down until the court makes its decision.
The so-called adequacy law removes the power of the Supreme Court to block government decisions by declaring them inappropriate. Its passage could trigger a constitutional crisis — if the court itself finds the law inappropriate.
The Movement for Quality Government, an Israeli NGO, filed a petition with the Supreme Court immediately after the vote, asking the court to declare the law illegal on the grounds that it alters the very fabric of Israeli democracy and to block implementation until the court decides.
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Israeli security forces used a water cannon to disperse protesters blocking the entrance to the Knesset, Israel’s parliament in Jerusalem, Monday, July 24.
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Demonstrators cross arms as they try to block a road to the Knesset on July 24.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) speaks with Aryeh Deri, leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, during a session of the Knesset July 24.
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Demonstrators wave a large Israeli flag during a protest outside the Knesset July 24.
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Israeli police dispersed demonstrators blocking the road to the Knesset on July 24. When they tried to block access to the building, the protesters were confronted with water cannons, fences and barbed wire.
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The Knesset will meet in Jerusalem on July 24. A marathon debate started the day before and lasted until the next morning.
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On July 24, people in Jerusalem protest against Netanyahu and the judiciary reform.
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Demonstrators gather at a camp they set up near the Knesset building on Sunday, July 23.
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On July 23, demonstrators gather in front of the Knesset.
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On Saturday, July 22, people are demonstrating in Tel Aviv, Israel, against the judicial reform plan.
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On July 22, protesters set up tents near the Knesset.
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Demonstrators from Tel Aviv cross the gateway to Jerusalem after a four-day march on July 22.
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People protest next to a bonfire in Tel Aviv on Thursday, July 20.
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An Israeli military reservist waves a national flag in Tel Aviv as he tosses a signed statement into a box announcing the suspension of his voluntary reserve service on Wednesday, July 19. He protested against the government’s plans to reform the judiciary.
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People protest near the US consulate in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, July 18.
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Demonstrators block the main entrance of the Ministry of Defense during a protest in Tel Aviv on July 18.
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On July 18, there was a scuffle between Israeli security forces and demonstrators in Tel Aviv.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who left hospital Monday morning after being implanted with a pacemaker, pushed through the law despite growing warnings from Israel’s key ally, the United States, against doing so.
In a highly unusual move, US President Joe Biden commented on the policy, warning that rushing through the changes without a broad consensus would erode democratic institutions and risk undermining US-Israel relations.
“Given the variety of threats and challenges Israel is currently facing, there is no point for Israeli leaders to rush this — the focus should be on bringing the people together and finding consensus,” Biden said in a statement shared with CNN on Sunday.
During a phone call last week, Biden voiced his concerns directly to Netanyahu and then called New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman to the Oval Office to clarify his stance on judicial reform.
After the Knesset passed the bill on Monday, the White House said it was “regrettable that today’s vote took place with the lowest possible majority.”
The Israeli stock market fell after the vote, with its main index, the TA-35, down more than 2%. The Israeli shekel was also weaker against the dollar, losing almost 1%.
The fierce debate over the planned judicial reform has turned into a battle for the soul of the Israeli state. It has pitted a coalition of right-wing and religious groups against the secular, liberal sections of Israeli society, sparking the longest and largest protests in the country’s 75-year history.
The fight comes against a backdrop of some of the worst acts of violence in many years. The number of Palestinians, militants and civilians killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank is at the highest level in almost two decades. The same is true of Israelis and foreigners – most of them civilians – who have been killed in Palestinian attacks.
Israel, which has no written constitution and no upper house of parliament, has a relatively powerful Supreme Court, which supporters of the changes say is problematic. At the same time, the Supreme Court is the sole control over the power of the Knesset and the government, since the executive and legislature are always controlled by the same governing coalition.
Netanyahu and his allies are calling the measures “reforms” and saying they are needed to rebalance powers between courts, lawmakers and the government. On other parts of the planned overhaul that the Knesset has yet to vote on, Netanyahu’s coalition would gain more control over judge appointments and remove independent legal advisers from ministries.
Opponents of the plan call it a “coup” and say it threatens to turn Israel into a dictatorship by removing key controls over government action.
Netanyahu was forced to pause the legislative process earlier in the year but resumed it earlier this month. He argued that the Supreme Court had become an isolated, elite group that did not represent the Israeli people.
But critics say Netanyahu is pushing the reform in part to protect himself from his own corruption trial, which has accused him of fraud, bribery and embezzlement. He denies any wrongdoing.
Another bill, passed back in March, makes it more difficult for a sitting prime minister to be declared unfit for office, limiting the grounds to physical or mental disability and requiring either the prime minister himself or two-thirds of the cabinet to vote in favor of such a declaration.
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Netanyahu, center, attends a session of the Knesset on Monday, July 24, 2023.
Despite his victory on Monday, Netanyahu is likely to come under more pressure over the reforms.
The mass protests that have gripped Israel since the reforms were first announced in January are unlikely to stop now. After hearing the law was passed, protesters began marching around in front of the Knesset chanting, “We won’t give up.” We won’t give up until things get better here.”
The Israel Bar Association is already preparing a legal challenge to the draft law, the bar group said on Sunday. The Bar Association also warned that it was closing “in protest of the anti-democratic legislative process,” the statement said. This means that the Bar Association would not offer professional services to its members and lawyers would not go on strike.
Israel’s umbrella union Histadrut warned shortly after the government passed the adequacy law that there would be serious consequences if the government continued to legislate unilaterally.
The law has yet to be approved by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, a formality in Israel’s political system.