‘A Dictator in All But Name’: Israelis Take to The Streets to Protest Netanyahu Government Passing Law to End Judicial Review

Israel erupted in protest on Monday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government passed a key pillar of its judicial overhaul plan, a bill limiting the Supreme Court from striking down laws it deems “unreasonable.”

Netanyahu’s government has been seeking to pass legislation allowing the government to overturn Supreme Court decisions with a majority vote of the Knesset, which would effectively end judicial review and give the prime minister and his ruling coalition total control of the government. Netanyahu’s vow to push through this overhaul, which critics have dubbed a “judicial coup,” has sparked months of mass protests in the country and led to unprecedented civil disruption.

CNN’s Hadas Gold, reporting live from Jerusalem, noted that “in the minutes that legislation passed, the Israeli parliament, 64 to 0, actually, because the opposition lawmakers walked off the floor in protest. The crowd here really erupted. They erupted in boos. They erupted in chants of ‘shame.’”

Gold noted that the bill is not a done deal yet as it still faces legal challenges. “It’s an important step for this coalition government that says it will continue to push forward with this legislation,” Gold explained, adding:

But it already had the first legal challenge against it, which has already been filed in front of the Supreme Court asking for an injunction, asking the Supreme Court to stop this bill. And that could lead to a pretty interesting legal fight because this law in is trying to take away the Supreme Court’s ability to stop certain government actions by declaring them ‘unreasonable.’

Gold reported further on the protests unfolding in the immediate aftermath of the bill passing and noted, “The biggest labor union in Israel, if they just clear a strike they essentially shut down the entire country, is now debating calling for a strike. And there’s a major question about those thousands of Israeli military reservists, including Air Force pilots, who have said that they will not serve, they will not heed the call to serve if this legislation passes, the legislation has now passed.”

Many pundits and observers were quick to denounce to passing of the bill as an anti-Democratic move that threatens Israel’s institutions and standing as a key U.S. ally in the Middle East.

Max Fisher, a longtime foreign policy writer, noted, “People need to understand that Israel has no constitution. So no constitutional rights or democratic guardrails. Just a supreme court, which Netanyahu’s far-right govt just neutered in a legislative coup. It makes Israel’s prime minister a dictator in all but name.”

“Given the striking parallels between Israel’s current internal rift and the infighting that caused the destruction of the Second Temple 2000 years ago, why would the Israeli Government proceed with its Judicial Reform bill on the eve of Tisha B’Av? Very bad timing,” wrote David Freidman, Trump’s ambassador to Israel, ahead of the vote.

“This is a dagger through the heart of Israeli democracy, and it rests in the hands of the @Israeli PM,” added David Axelrod.

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