In just 10 days, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has broken the Gaza ceasefire, tried to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet intelligence agency, orchestrated a no-confidence vote on the attorney general, and passed a law to change how Supreme Court appointments happen. The legislation, passed last Thursday, will allow Netanyahu to change the court’s makeup in his favor, his critics say. The change will come into effect in the next parliamentary term. The move has raised concerns about the independence of Israel’s judiciary and questions about what can be done to stop what seems like a concerted effort to hobble that independence.
The new law changes the composition of the Judicial Selection Committee, making it easier for politicians to stack future appointments to the Supreme Court in their favor. With three missing from the panel of 15 judges on Israel’s highest judicial authority, the question of how their replacements will be appointed takes on sharper importance. Supreme Court President Esther Hayut retired on October 16, 2023, and Justices Anat Baron and Uzi Vogelman retired shortly after. The new law replaces the two Israel Bar Association nominees on the Judicial Selection Committee with two attorneys nominated by both the governing coalition and its opposition. Israel’s Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, described this as “[changing] the judicial selection method to one in which … political considerations receive precedence and decisive weight – and on the other hand, the place of professional considerations in the judicial election process is greatly weakened, even erased”.
Judge selection, Baharav-Miara added, would now be subject to political negotiations and compromises, allowing personal motivations to damage “the apolitical character of the act of meting justice at all levels”. Judge selection, Baharav-Miara added, would now be subject to political negotiations and compromises, allowing personal motivations to damage “the apolitical character of the act of meting justice at all levels”. The government already controls the legislature. By gaining control of the judiciary, it essentially removes the last of the checks and balances upon it and assumes unchallenged power.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid’s party and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel have appealed this legislation to the Supreme Court. Netanyahu and his allies argue that the Supreme Court is blocking them from enacting the “will of the people”.
Netanyahu’s critics pointed out that his “reforms” seem geared towards his personal and political ends. He is currently on trial, including on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. The Supreme Court imposed restrictions on Netanyahu’s powers due to growing public concern over potential conflicts of interest.
Opposition to Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul has been overwhelming with mass protests during almost every stage of it. The mass protests, coupled with public criticism by then US President Joe Biden, were enough to pause, then apparently derail, the government’s plans. But this week, under the cover of the war, Netanyahu restarted his attempts to overhaul the judiciary. And this time, Netanyahu and his coalition seem unwilling to stop their efforts to remove any elements of the judiciary that may slow them down.
The only way for Netanyahu to be stopped is a loss for the prime minister and his allies at the next elections. Public anger at Netanyahu’s moves has not abated and mass protests have continued with the largest ones organized by legal professionals, civil society organizations, academics, opposition parties and tech workers.
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/4/1/a-coup-detat-israels-netanyahu-pushes-ahead-with-his-judicial-changes?traffic_source=rss
