Moving away from judicial oversight

Netanyahu’s government poses a threat to democracy and rule of law, says Boaz Atzili

Democracy is not just about holding elections. It is a set of institutions, ideas and practices that allow citizens a continuous, decisive voice in shaping their government and its policies.

The new Israeli government, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu and sworn in on 29 December 2022, is a coalition of the most extreme right-wing and religious parties in the history of the state. This government presents a major threat to Israeli democracy, and it does so on multiple fronts.

That threat has not passed unnoticed. Tens of thousands of Israelis protested in Tel Aviv during the first weeks of January 2023 against the government’s proposed reform policies. Smaller demonstrations took place in other cities, and organizers promise to keep the heat on.

Perhaps the most important front in the battle is the Israeli Supreme Court. On January 12, court President Esther Hayut gave a highly uncharacteristic public speech in which she warned that the Netanyahu government’s proposed reforms are “meant to be a mortal wound to the independence of the judiciary, and to turn it into a silent institution.”

The clash came to a head when, on January 18, the justices ruled 10-1 against the appointment of Aryeh Deri as a senior minister in Netanyahu’s Cabinet because of what the court said was his “backlog of criminal convictions.” Deri, the leader of the ultraOrthodox Shas Party, served time in jail, and the judges’ ruling said that he should not be in the government. The ruling means that Netanyahu will either face a coalition crisis or else find a way to circumvent the court’s ruling, which will place the government above the law.