Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right partners have chosen to take Israel in an unknown direction. Nothing could stop the will of the prime minister, driven by his ultra-nationalist and ultra-religious coalition, to approve the law of reasonableness. He did not slow down because of the massive protests that have surrounded the Israeli Parliament. Nor was it stopped by the strike carried out by some 150 companies or by the thousands of doctors who joined the marches in Jerusalem; less was changed by a last-minute message from the President of the United States, Joe Biden, in which he urged him not to “run” to pass a “divisive” law.
Bibi was so determined that he ignored his doctors and, after spending two nights in a hospital for the implantation of a pacemaker, he avoided rest and went to the plenary session of Parliament. He did not want anything to distract him from his goal, even refusing to meet before the vote with the head of the armed forces, who wanted to warn him about the operational difficulties of having more than 10,000 reservists not on duty.
In the Knesset, Netanyahu was seen, at times, absent. Perhaps it was because of convalescence or perhaps, as his critics warn, because he is a weak prime minister, whose political future – and personal, because of the corruption trial he is facing – is in the hands of his extremist allies. Around him, until the last moment there were internal discussions – the Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, had an angry exchange with his colleague of Justice, Yariv Levin – and failed attempts at a consensus between the officialdom and the opposition.
In the end, the opposition MPs left the plenary session, tearing up copies of the bill and shouting “shame” on their colleagues. The coalition’s majority allowed him to sign a resounding 64-0, in a semi-empty chamber and with smiles and hugs among pro-government legislators.
The blow of the hammer by the speaker of the Knesset, Amir Ohana, determined that, from this law, the Supreme Court will no longer be able to veto governmental or ministerial measures that it does not consider reasonable. This happens, under Israeli law, when a decision disproportionately takes political motivations into account over the public interest and the protection of citizens’ rights.
An example that has been picked up by the Israeli media is that, already without “reasonableness”, the Netanyahu Government would have no obstacles to dismiss the Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, a staunch opponent of the reform and a stone in the prime minister’s shoe for her role in the corruption trial against her.
But the package of changes to justice does not end there. “This is the first step to correct the judicial system”, promised Levin, architect of the reform. Although Parliament is entering its summer break, next on the agenda is a proposal to modify the judge selection committee, which was paralyzed along with other radical projects in March after the wave of protests and a general strike.
And if the Government does not plan to slow down, neither do the social movements. On the contrary, after the passing of the law of reasonableness, the discomfort was combined with fervor. “Democracy or rebellion” and “we will never give up” were some of the slogans chanted by the tens of thousands of people who stood in the vicinity of the Parliament. Phrases and marches that were replicated in Tel-Aviv, Haifa and other cities. “We are here to fight for Israel’s democracy and we will not stop until it is out of danger,” says a student leader, who is participating in a camp in the Knesset park. “Without Israeli democracy, we basically have no future. This is the reason why we are out here in tents, because we see how our house is collapsing”, adds the young woman.
Now entering the 30th week of uninterrupted protests, its promoters exhibit an enviable level of tenacity and organization. In this camp there are dozens of tents; several tents that serve as shelter from the intense heat or even as daycare centers for children, and each movement has distinctive posters and insignia: reservists, students, doctors, LGBTQ militants, human rights defenders, activists against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories or feminist groups.
The latter, grouped in the platform Building an alternative, ensure that the Government imposes a conservative agenda that affects women’s rights. “Every day we witness some rule or rule against women, and we will sleep here until the Government understands that it has to stop”, says Moran Zer-Katzenstein, leader of the group, which has gained international visibility because its members march dressed as characters from the series The Handmaid’s Tale.
In perfect Spanish, another of its members affirms that changes like the law approved yesterday “will harm women, because this is already happening”. “We’re not leaving here until they stop this madness, these laws that are fascist and are causing a war between us”, he regrets.
And the reform also deepens the division between the more liberal and secular sectors of society, and those more conservative and religious. For Tali, a social worker who arrived in Jerusalem from the north of Israel, it is very difficult to “justify” in front of her two teenage daughters the Government’s decisions or that “my State occupies the Palestinian Territories”. For this reason, he considers it necessary to “stop everything”, that no one goes “neither to the army nor to school or to work” to “reflect on how we can rebuild this broken society together”.
The call that Netanyahu made last night to the opposition to negotiate again on the next reform projects will hardly be useful for this. Even more so if we take into account that the opposition leaders have promised to appeal to the Supreme Court – as other organizations have already done – to declare the unconstitutionality of the law of reasonableness, which the prime minister describes as “a necessary democratic step”.
A law that was hastily voted on the day before, the date on which Jews remember the saddest events in their history, such as the destruction of the two temples. And there are not a few who fear adding the “destruction of democracy”.