Knesset Protest Monday, March 27, 2023
The Week That Was
The protests continued. An estimate of over 650,000 anti-Judicial Reform protesters gathered around the country on Saturday night March 18th. More pilots and soldiers announced they would boycott their reserve duty. 44 protesters were arrested Saturday night as they blocked the Ayalon highway that cuts through central Tel Aviv. The momentum was building for something serious to happen.
Bret Stephens, writing in the Wall Street Journal, saw an upside to the demonstrations. “There have been no reports of serious property damage or physical injury, much less death. The government and its allies have tried to dismiss the demonstrators as ‘leftists.’ It’s a preposterous claim when critics of the judicial reforms include the right-wing former prime minister Naftali Bennett and a dozen former National Security Council chiefs, such as the former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen and others who served directly under Netanyahu.
In other words, this was a revolt of the political center against the fringe — showing that the former is far more vital and energized than it is elsewhere in the democratic world.”
There had been murmurs, mostly optimistic ones, that some of those in the Netanyahu coalition were in favor of calling a halt to the Judicial Reforms, as more and more voices of respected leaders from around the world in finance, the judiciary, and the military, were heard. But the leaders of the Judicial Reforms, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Law committee chairman SImcha Rothman, remained steadfast in their refusal to halt the march to reforms stating unequivocally that the laws would be voted on and passed during the week.
According to the Times of Israel, Likud MK Yuli Edelstein, who missed the vote on a part of a contentious bill said, “I didn’t miss the vote by chance.” He said he’s not certain how he would vote in the future. “Protesters don’t affect me. What does is the most sensitive army units affected by the situation.”
Other Likud members like David Biton, Avi Dichter and Defense Minister Gen (Res.) Yoav Gallant hinted they were against the rush to the reforms. But the ruling Coalition whip Ofir Katz said that those who don’t vote in favor of the judicial overhaul “have ended their careers in the Likud,” referring to Gallant and other dissidents.
The strident pronouncements of Levin and Rothman only helped to enrage those seeking a discussion on the Judicial Reforms before they were rushed into law. More than a few of the opposition leaders, like Yair Lapid and Gen. (Res.) Benny Gantz, echoed Israel’s President Yitzhak ‘Bogie’ Herzog’s warning that Israel was heading into a civil war.
Ynetnews analyst Yossi Yehoshua wrote, “Even compulsory service soldiers are now affected by the situation.”
The tension in the country was palpable. Right-wing counter protesters arrived to confront the anti-government protesters. A flurry of punches between the sides ensued in some cities.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (center)
The Defense Minister Calls for a Pause in the Judicial Overhaul
Then the fissures in the coalition turned into a crack heard around the world. Gen (Res.) Yoav Gallant, Israel’s Defense Minister, went on TV and called for a halt to the Judicial Reforms until discussions were held by both sides. Gallant had been prepared to make this announcement last Thursday but had been called into Netanyahu’s Jerusalem office and told to wait. Netanyahu reportedly promised movement in compromise talks. But then Netanyahu flew off for the weekend to London, the third weekend in a row that he’d left town. Some observers said this was to avoid the mass demonstrations.
By Saturday no progress was made or even attempted said some analysts. That was it for Gallant who went on TV and made a short speech saying he knew he was going to pay a price for what he was about to say but in this time of crisis with enemies on the borders and with the army in disarray he had no choice but to call for a halt to the Judicial Reform process until after the upcoming Passover holiday, Israel’s Memorial Day, and then Israel’s Independence Day.
Some protesters saw Gallant’s speech as a sign that the race for Judicial Reforms was going to be halted. They left the protest and headed home. Others, less optimistic, stayed and waved flags and yelled ‘democracy.’ Some drifted down to the Ayalon highway that cuts through Tel Aviv.
Analysts had a field day with this, speculating that Gallant was only one of many in the Likud who were against the rush towards Judicial Reforms. On Kan Reshet Bet radio’s Kalman-Leiberman morning talk show, Leiberman asked if Gallant would now be fired? He said that “Several MK’s (members of Knesset) backed Gallant’s call to pause the judicial overhaul, while others called on Netanyahu to fire Gallant.”
The Times of Israel’s editor David Horowitz wrote, “With dire public warning, Gallant tries to compel Netanyahu to put state before self.”
Protesters went public calling for a “Week of Paralysis,” until the reforms were halted.
The Washington Post wrote, “Netanyahu’s political touch eludes him as Israel spirals into Chaos.” The New York Times wrote, “Israel Defense Minister says the government should halt contentious judicial plan…Yoav Gallant broke with Benjamin Netanyahu over the Prime Minister’s planned Judicial Overhaul saying the resulting unrest threatened military readiness.”
Israel’s Chief-of-Staff HaLevi said, according to the Times of Israel, “IDF (Israel Defense Forces) now have a dual mission of ensuring security and keeping the military united.”
But Yair Netanyahu, the Prime Minister’s son and considered one of his closest advisers, said “Gallant is destroying democracy. National Security Minister, ultra-nationalist Itamar Ben-Gvir said, “We won’t give up and turn the government over to anarchists.” Ben Gvir hinted that he would leave the government, calling it to fall and resulting in new elections, if the reforms were paused.
There was also speculation that a no-confidence motion would be called and the government would fall. That Netanyahu now had a choice between supporting Justice Minister Levin, who had threatened to quit if the reforms were halted, or supporting Gallant. Should Levin resign the government might fall. Should a no- confidence motion be called the government might fall. Should that happen Netanyahu would not be able to pass the laws that would keep him out of jail should he be convicted of one of the three indictments he faced.
Netanyahu Fires Gallant
Netanyahu choose Levin. When Netanyahu returned from London on Sunday he went on the air and choose to fire Gallant. The uproar was immediate. Thousands poured onto the streets to protest. Netanyahu said that he fired Gallant because Gallant could not control the soldiers who refused to do their army service. The media speculated that Netanyahu might next fire the Chief-of-Staff and then the heads of the Mossad and the Shin Bet (Israel’s FBI). Pundits saw this as a dictatorship unfolding before their eyes.
However, Yearyah Shapira of Kan channel 1 TV said, “Netanyahu fired Gallant in favor of Levin and now sees that was a mistake that needs to be corrected. Other analysts said Netanyahu was now looking for a way out of the crisis.
Shaul Amsterdamski, economic affairs reporter for Kan TV, said that the firing of Gallant was historic. Like dropping an atom bomb. Or like the Covid pandemic. He said this was a very dire and serious situation. “He is not connected to (what is--take out )the reality of the situation. He saw hundreds of thousands turn out in the streets and just fired the Defense Minister.” Amsterdamski said, ‘Nothing as critical as this has happened since the foundation of the State…whoever is influencing him is giving him the wrong advice.”
Tamir Pardo, former head of the Mossad, went on TV and said that Netanyahu had lost his way and must resign. Jacki, a hairstylist in Jerusalem said that Netanyahu should be arrested.
According to Amnon Abramovich speaking on Channel 12 TV news, “People who have met Netanyahu in the last few months say he is distracted, distanced, not involved. Those involved are his son Yair and (Justice Minister) Yariv Levin.
Also, on Thursday, it was announced the court had found Yair Netanyahu guilty of defamation of character and fined him $37,000, including fines, damages, and court costs for defaming former Knesset Member Stav Shafrir in 2020 on his Twitter account. This was not the first time the young Netanyahu had been sued for defamation of character. Some say Netanyahu Jr. is being groomed by his father to take over the Likud.
Prof. Avraham Diskin, founder of Kohelet, a right-wing think tank, that was one of the architects of the Judicial Overhaul, told Kan TV he was worried about the collapse of democracy. “We have gone beyond the edge of a democratic collapse.”
Sunday night after Gallant was fired protestors poured into the streets. Thousands blocked the highway for 9 hours. The police stayed back. The protesters were allowed to camp out on the highway until 07:30 am, just before the rush hour began. Then the police moved in and cleared the highway.
Arnon Bar David, Head of the Histadrut
The Strike
Then came Monday morning. Arnon Bar David, head of the powerful Histadrut workers union, called a press conference. He announced a general strike until the coalition agreed to halt the judicial overhaul. He also called for the reinstatement of Gallant. Sitting on the podium with Bar David were the heads of Israel’s five major banks, as well as a few heads of Israel’s high-tech companies.
The media reported that this was the first time the Histadrut and the business sector were united in calling a strike. Then came Pinchas Idan, leader of the Israel airports workers union and a Likud member, who took the microphone and called for a shutdown of Israel’s airports, stranding thousands of passengers and cancelling scores of flights.
Some shopping malls announced they were closing. The universities, including the Ariel college on the West Bank, said they were clogging. ???? closing?
The tension was palpable.
MK Nachman Shai, of the opposition Labor Party said of the strike, “The economic effect is tremendous. And it is happening now, the week before Passover when the public is filling the stores buying and shopping. And next week the travel begins for those going on holiday during passover.”
Michael Shemesh, political reporter for Kan TV, said that PM Netanyahu and his wife Sara both reached out to Histadrut head Bar David asking him to call the strike in order to pressure his own government to work towards broad agreement on Judicial Reform. Last week Sara Netanyahu issued a call for both sides to “calm the waters and work together for a broad agreement among the people of Israel.”
Pinchas Idan, head of the Airport Workers Union, told the Israel HaYom daily on Thursday that Histadrut head Bar David told him that “we will hold a press conference, and an hour later the Prime Minister will announce he is stopping the legislation and the mess will be over.” Both the Prime Minister’s office and the Histadrut denied they had coordinated the strike.
At 10:00 in the morning the media started to announce that Netanyahu was going to make a statement. Then the announcement was pushed off until 10:30. Then later. And later still.
The country went into a panic. Sides were drawn.
The right-wing leaders called on their followers to turn up at the Knesset and in Tel Aviv and around the country for a counter demonstration. They maintained that they’d won the election, received 64 seats and their voice should be heard. They were not to be ignored. Violence was expected. Three demonstrators were arrested in their car on the way to the counter-demonstration. They were armed with a gun and knives.
The Constitution That Isn’t
Now, a word about why Israel doesn’t have a constitution. When the state was established in 1948 David Ben Gurion, the first Prime Minister, felt that only a fraction of the Jewish people had so far immigrated to Israel and a constitution should only be drawn up when the mass of people had assembled and could adequately discuss the laws.
More practical analysts say that Ben Gurion faced a fractured citizenry, split between religious and secular, right and left, socialist Kibbutzniks, some Stalinists, and West leaning capitalists. The divides were so great that Ben Gurion thought that with the Arab armies ready to pounce, and pounce they did, and have continued to pounce, there were more pressing matters than to divide the country that would fight over the constitution and perhaps break apart. Thus, more power was given to the high court until a constitution could be finally drawn up. It never was.
According to Michael Star, writing in the Jerusalem Post, “Israel was supposed to have a constitution. It was in the United Nations resolution 181 and in the Declaration of Independence…” In the article, Star quoted Prof Yaniv Roznai, co-director of Reichman University’s Rubinstein Center for Constitutional Challenges, who wrote. “… elections for a constitutional assembly took place in January 1949. However, the constitutional assembly, once it was assembled, received the authority not only to draft the constitution but also to be the ordinary legislator, to enact ordinary laws.”
In the article Star wrote “Prof. Eyal Gross of Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Law noted, Israel was built on the legacy of English common law and the British system. There was a feeling among some that a constitution wasn’t necessary when Israel was already a democracy; the United Kingdom didn’t have a written constitution, so it was questioned why it was necessary for the nascent state. To complicate matters further, Gross wrote that “Religious parties argued that the Jewish people already has a constitution, the Torah.”
Roznai wrote, quoting Gross: “From 1958 to 1992 Basic Laws were introduced. “dealing with structure of government like the [Basic Law:] Prime Minister, The Government, the Knesset itself, The President, The Budget, etc….They made two mistakes. First, they didn’t say anything about the deadline. By when do we have to finish this constitution-making process?” said Roznai. “And second, they didn’t decide what is the constitutional status, the legal status, of the Basic Laws until the completion of this process.”
Roznai added, “The Court also gained the power to strike down administrative decisions, if it was determined that they contradicted the ‘reasonableness’ clause, that a government act was beyond the scope of a reasonable and responsible authority.” However, Roznai contended that the Court by nature had been very restrained in using these powers, only striking down a small percentage of government actions and largely on noncritical matters.
“What we are seeing now is part of the backlash to that because a lot of the people now would say the Israeli Supreme Court became too active,” said Roznai.
Gary Rosenblatt, former editor of the Jewish Week, wrote in his blog that the outline for a constitution had been drawn up after a three-year research period by Professor Ruth Gavison and Rabbi Yaacov Medan. “Ruth Gavison, a recipient of the Israel Prize, was a distinguished Hebrew University professor of law, and an avowedly secular expert on, and fierce advocate for, human rights. Rav Yaakov Medan, who fought on the Golan in the Yom Kippur War, is a Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion in the settlement of Gush Etzion, and a leader in the Religious Zionist movement.
“The two spent nearly four years working together and published a detailed document in 2003 of more than 100 pages, in Hebrew and English…, that was met with quite a bit of enthusiasm among some scholars, but no legislation based on the covenant has ever been passed in the Knesset.”
And Then the Pause
The Judicial Reforms are meant to bring the power back to the people, according to Justice Minister Levin. A contention that Roznai doesn’t support.
“If elections were held today Prime Minister Netanyahu’s coalition would fail to be elected.” This according to two TV polls published this week, one by Kan Channel 1, a state-sponsored station, and Channel 12, a commercial station.
Netanyahu’s Likud party dropped from 32 seats in the current Knesset to 25 in the latest polls. Netanyahu had a 68% negative rating among those polled. The opposition parties would garner at least 61 seats to the Likud’s 57, when at least 61 were needed to become the ruling coalition.
Netanyahu’s drop in popularity was also found among Likud voters.
Netanyahu finally made his appearance Monday night during the prime time news at 8:00 PM. He declared a pause in the rush to Judicial Reforms until July. The strike was called off.
The country breathed a sigh of relief.
Yair Lapid, one of the opposition leaders, said, “We will go to the President and talk to find solutions. But we need a real dialogue conducive to solve problems.” Then he warned, “If Netanyahu thinks he can trick us he’ll find the hundreds of thousands in the streets. If he comes with earnest intention he’ll find willing partners.”
Benny Gantz (National Union) said “Better late than never to pause the reforms. We’ll sit and talk. We are all one people. Both sides have the flag in their hands. We are all one people.”
Avigdor Leiberman (Israel Home) who was fired as Netanyahu’s Defense Minister in a previous government, said that Netanyahu could not be trusted.
Even US President Joe Biden come out with a warning to Netanyahu that he must conduct serious negotiations and .that the situation was worrisome. Not good English.
Teams from both sides were selected and met the following morning at President Yitzhak Herzog’s residence. But already there was a conflict.
Right-wing pro Judiciary Reform protestors in Tel Aviv, March 30, 2023
Judiciary Committee chairman Simcha Rothman had tabled a bill to fast-track the reforms with the Knesset. All that was needed now was a call to vote. Lapid said this was negotiations with a gun to their head.
Meanwhile the meetings continued. One contentious law, that allowed Knesset members and cabinet ministers to accept gifts and donations for campaigns and legal defense, that was to be presented to presented to the Knesset for a vote, was not brought up. That meant that Netanyahu’s cousin’s donation of $270,000 for his legal defense, that was ruled illegal by the High Court, was not going to be voted upon. Netanyahu has been indicted for corruption, bribery and breach of trust.
However, a bill that allowed search without a warrant of a home suspected of having weapons was passed. Netanyahu had voted against a similar bill during a previous government. The current bill was supported by National Security Minister Ben Gvir.
Another bill to be voted upon next week and that frightens many Israelis,will allow Ben Gvir to have his own militia of 2,000 officers, will be voted upon next week.
Former police chief Moshe Karada said that this militia would be a private police force under Ben Gvir’s command and should not be permitted.
Counter Demonstrations
On Thursday night, March 30th, approximately 25,000- 30,000 pro-reform protesters turned out in Tel Aviv. The police allowed them to go onto the Ayalon highway and shut down traffic. Earlier, right wing social media posted threats of violence to opposition demonstrators and journalists.
Forward Cautiously
Even as pro-reform protesters blocked roads to kibbutzim in the north of Israel and took to the streets to protest around the country, the negotiating teams carried on with their work in the President’s residence. Time will tell if they reach any positive conclusion. Or if the situation deteriorates with the opposing forces meeting on the streets and not around a negotiating table. And if Yoav Gallant sends an “I’m sorry” letter to Netanyahu so he can remain Defense Minister.
Science
In groundbreaking research, Tel Aviv U scientists have discovered clicking sounds in plants which humans can’t hear and which differ based on species and type of stress; the scientists wonder what uses other plants, animals make of the information.
