Israel: This is how the press reacts to the suspension of the judiciary reform

After massive protests and several crisis talks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday evening that he would suspend implementation of the controversial judicial reform for a few weeks in order to “make room for dialogue” and “avoid a civil war”. For around three months, tens of thousands, sometimes several hundred thousand people, have been taking to the streets against the plans of his right-wing religious government to weaken the independent judiciary.

Despite the announced stop, opponents of the government plans want to continue their protest. “We will not stop the demonstrations until the judicial coup is completely stopped,” said the organizers of the resistance on the street late Monday evening. Netanyahu’s announcement only serves to dupe the population “to weaken the protest and then establish a dictatorship”. Several rallies are planned for Tuesday.

The protest continued nationwide into Tuesday night. There were clashes with the police in several cities. In the coastal city of Tel Aviv, demonstrators temporarily blocked an important road connecting to Jerusalem. According to media reports, there were two dozen arrests nationwide by the evening. In some cases, the police used stun grenades and water cannons to crack down on the demonstrators.

This is what the German and international press says about the tense situation in Israel:

Germany

“New Osnabrück Newspaper”: “Caution is required, because postponed is not cancelled. Nobody can say at this point in time whether Netanyahu is really giving up his plan or is simply looking for new ways to implement it. Netanyahu has been massively restricting the powers of the judiciary bit by bit for months and is not above arguing with the separation of powers. The judiciary has too much power and must be put in its place, he claims. Is it still possible? Netanyahu and his ultra-Orthodox governing coalition, which also includes far-right parties, have the principle of the separation of powers probably not understood.”

“Märkische Oderzeitung” (Frankfurt/Oder): “At least there is a positive side to the explosive situation in Israel: the ongoing protests and strikes against the dismantling of democracy show that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is dealing with an alert citizenry that is able to To force the right-wing government to at least postpone its planned judicial reform. Netanyahu now has to make a decision by the summer: does he want to save his government or social peace? Both of these pose problems for him. An exit by his arch-conservative coalition partners, who Trying to get the legislative package through parliament for better or for worse would cost him his majority in parliament. But the confrontation with large sections of the population could also sweep him away. Given these alternatives, Netanyahu can already be seen as the loser of his plans.”

“Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung” (Heidelberg): “Of course, that doesn’t solve the problem. It seems impossible that Netanyahu’s extremist coalition partners will be persuaded to reach a compromise by the summer. The head of government can therefore hope that the will to resist will slacken among the population. Israel’s civil society will therefore be united “We need staying power if we want to preserve democracy. And the US and the EU must continue to make it clear to Netanyahu that abandoning the principle of the separation of powers would be unacceptable.”

International

“New Zurich newspaper”: “Benjamin Netanyahu is known as a shrewd strategist who has mastered many crises. But in the dispute over judicial reform, the Israeli Prime Minister maneuvered himself into a corner from which there was ultimately no easy way out. In the end, he was left with only bad options: Hold on By sticking to the controversial plan to limit the Supreme Court’s powers, he risks paralyzing the country in protests from opponents, while giving in to their calls for a halt to reform could shatter his coalition.

It is correct that Netanyahu has now relented and put the reform on hold, at least for the time being. A real and honest dialogue with the opponents is overdue. It is by no means only the secular left who are demonstrating against the reform, as the government camp claims. Many religious and right-wingers are also concerned that the government would gain too much power if it could overrule any Supreme Court decision by a simple majority in the Knesset. But the reform has only been postponed, not cancelled. The conflict is not resolved.”

“La Vanguardia” (Spain): “Netanyahu is trying to defuse tensions and buy time, but is not giving up on reform. […] Israel is a democracy, but without an effective system of checks and balances between state authorities, it could lose this quality. The country has no constitution and no second chamber of parliament, so the judiciary and the Supreme Court are the only ones able to check excesses of political power. The (right-wing conservative) Likud party and its partners want to control the process of selecting judges, which means that the government would hardly be subject to any scrutiny. The extreme polarization of Israeli society can lead to violent unrest that would put the country in a dangerous borderline situation should judicial reform be passed. Israel is on the edge of the abyss.”

The prime minister himself has also been accused of corruption and hopes the reform will keep him out of jail. Many doubt that Netanyahu is willing to sacrifice his own interests for the good of the country.”

“De Standaard” (Belgium): “The fact that a compromise was finally reached about postponing the reform is not very reassuring, because the ultra-nationalists are linking their temporary patience to the creation of a national guard that would report directly to the far-right Minister for National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir. In practice, this would amount to the official creation of a national thug force, pushed by fanatics pursuing an anti-Palestinian and religious violence agenda.This scenario will lead to violence not only against moderate Israelis and Palestinians, but also against some high-tech entrepreneurs from the land. Israel will then find itself not only in unprecedented international isolation, but also in an economic downward spiral.”

“The Times” (UK): “Netanyahu must use this delay to find a compromise. Many Israelis accept the need for some judicial reform. It is also not uncommon in Israel for debates about the appropriate role of the courts in a democracy and how to balance majority rule and minority rights can be established. However, by rejecting all previous offers of compromise, Netanyahu and his coalition partners have made it all but impossible to reach consensus. The greatest danger now is passing new legislation that would be promptly rejected by the Supreme Court. This would lead to a constitutional crisis that would challenge the government’s legitimacy and plunge Israel into even greater chaos.”