Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-65086871
Protests in Israel have increased and gained even more traction over the current government’s “reforms’ ‘ on the legal system. further annoying the government is the fact that reservists have also protested and many have stated they will refuse a call to arms. protesters are asking prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign which of course is a view that his political opponents help voice though many on both sides are against these reforms. The reforms include the government having more of a say in the appointment of supreme court judges, a new rule that the parliament is able to overrule the court decision by majority vote, and the loss of power of the attorney general. There has been a small pause in the passing of this legislation that both sides hope will result in a ceasefire but even still the protests haven’t stopped or cooled down.
Obviously this is a power move by Netanyahu especially as he faces corruption charges. and while it may be weird that he is actually pausing the passing of the reforms for a minute to have a potential deal made between him and opponents, one had to realize that with the army showing signs of also not liking the reforms that eliminates one of any government’s most powerful weapons, the military. Especially with a far-right government, military sponsored violent suppression is almost a given but if the army doesn’t like it either that runs the risk of being overthrown so this is just netanyahu being pragmatic. I expect that the laws are passed in some capacity at least temporarily and for protest to continue and increase though I’m not well versed enough in Israel’s society/history to know if the prime minister being ousted is a realistic possibility.
As for what this connects back to in class I’d say it connects with our talks about government legitimacy. People will follow and listen to the government if it’s viewed as fair and for the people even if it isn’t. With Israel’s executive branch so obviously pulling a power move and trying to essentially end the judicial branch, the people can see this and don’t have faith in their government being anything other than one man trying to be more powerful. We can see this more again with even the military, usually the backbone of any authoritarian takeover not being supportive of these reforms.