Israel’s Netanyahu advances judicial changes despite uproar

TIA GOLDENBERG and MOSHE EDRI Associated Press

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government for the first time advanced a plan to overhaul the country’s legal system, defying a mass uproar among Israelis and calls for restraint from the United States.

A vote early Tuesday marked only preliminary approval for the plan. But it raised the stakes in a battle that drew tens of thousands of protesters into the streets, sparked criticism from influential sectors of society and widened the rifts in an already polarized country.

The vote gave initial approval to a plan that would give Netanyahu’s coalition more power over who becomes a judge. It came after more than seven hours of debate that dragged on past midnight.

<p>A boy holds a sign in Hebrew that reads, "I have a dream, democracy," as Israelis protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new government to overhaul the judicial system Monday in Haifa, Israel.</p>

Ariel Schalit, Associated Press

A boy holds a sign in Hebrew that reads, "I have a dream, democracy," as Israelis protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new government to overhaul the judicial system Monday in Haifa, Israel.

Demonstrators gathered outside the parliament, or Knesset, for a second straight week to rally against the plan as lawmakers prepared to hold an initial vote.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies, a collection of ultra-religious and ultranationalist lawmakers, say the plan is meant to fix a system that has given the courts and government legal advisers too much say in how legislation is crafted and decisions are made. Critics say it will upend the country’s system of checks and balances and concentrate power in the hands of the prime minister. They also say that Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, has a conflict of interest.

Simcha Rothman, a far-right lawmaker leading the legislative initiative, presented the proposal to the Knesset during a stormy debate. Several opposition lawmakers were escorted out of the hall by security for screaming at him, while a spectator was carried away by guards from the viewing gallery after smashing the protective glass in anger.

The standoff has plunged Israel into one of its greatest domestic crises, sharpening a divide between Israelis over the character of their state and the values they believe should guide it.

“We are fighting for our children’s future, for our country’s future. We don’t intend to give up,” opposition leader Yair Lapid told a meeting of his party in the Knesset as protesters amassed outside.

Small groups of protesters demonstrated outside the homes of some lawmakers, preventing one member of Netanyahu’s Likud party from taking her special-needs daughter to school.

<p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a meeting of his Likud party at Israel's parliament, the Knesset, for a vote on a contentious plan to overhaul the country's legal system Monday in Jerusalem.</p>

Maya Alleruzzo

Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a meeting of his Likud party at Israel's parliament, the Knesset, for a vote on a contentious plan to overhaul the country's legal system, in Jerusalem, Monday, Feb. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Netanyahu accused the demonstrators of inciting violence and said they were ignoring the will of the people who voted the government into power last November. Netanyahu for his part, along with his political allies, denied the legitimacy of the short-lived previous government which briefly unseated him in 2021.

“The people exercised their right to vote in the elections and the people’s representatives will exercise their right to vote here in Israel’s Knesset. It’s called democracy,” Netanyahu told his Likud party. Netanyahu showed no sign of backing down before the vote despite the pressure, but left the door open for dialogue on the planned changes.

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