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The Israeli government government has passed a disputed law to allow politicians greater leaning in court appointment, at a time when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at trial for corruption and conflict with the High Court judges.
Opposition leader Benny Gantz said that the law – which will not enter into force only after the following elections – will suddenly reduce court independence and bring Israel “On the edge of the civil war.”
Netanyahu inserted the bill as an attack on the “rule of bureaucrats” and “deep state”, echoing the language of his political ally by US President Donald Trump.
The law is intended to be powered by power from a “small group of bureaucrats struggling to preserve the lever for power and authority in the country”, Netanyahu said. “In democracy, people are sovereign.”
Israeli media described the results of the Fire of an all-night debate as “Netanyahu’s court coup”, and said it was the first time in the 76-year history of Israel to control the appointment of judges.
This move was part of broad judicial reforms that had been pushed by the Netanyahu government for two years, which launched wide protests and were stopped by Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023.
The opposition vowed to cancel the law if it won the next election, which is expected at the end of 2026.
“The Israeli government has just approved the law with one goal – to ensure that judges become susceptible to politicians,” the opposition leaders in a joint statement said. “In the next government, we will ensure that the law is abolished, returning the selection of judges to the honest and professional committee.”
With its delayed introduction and complicated structure, the Law is more seen as the showing of strength – and future intentions – Netanyahu’s coalition for the right, than to the wholesale overhaul of the Israeli court appointment.
In addition to other minor changes, the law will interfere with the members of the Court Selection Committee of nine people and give the veto authority to the government and opposition named, injecting policies into a process that has been run by professionals, including the law chamber.
Netanyahu and his allies, who have been struggling with courts and legal systems for years, planning more reforms, but they are far from the law.
Netanyahu country has brought the ground to the edge of the constitutional crisis in recent weeks Trying to shoot The head of the domestic intelligence service, Ronen Bar, who explored that officials in the internal circle of the Prime Minister had financial business with Katar. Netanyahu’s office called charges “false news.”
The Prime Minister also began the procedure of discharging the Chief Lawyer, beginning with the vote on the distrust against Gali Baharav-Miara, named the previous government of the right center in 2021.
At the same time, his trial for corruption, which he spent for years, painting as a hunt for witches managed by liberal prosecutors and judges.
Netanyahu’s coalition, which has been the return of the extremely right -wing Jewish party in recent weeks, has easily issued a proposal for the Judicial Meeting Act, without any 71,000 opposition amendments and protests outside Parliament.
A short period of national unity brought by an attack on October 7th gave a place to great protests because of Netanyahua renewing the attack on Gaza and giving up a trial with Hamas – leaving Israeli hostage still captured by a militant group – and the return of judicial reforms.
