Baruch is in his early sixties, medium height with a stocky build and thinning hair showing more scalp than he probably likes. A few garages down from Baruch’s is a car mechanic where a photo of Avi Maoz, leader of the ultra-nationalist Noam party hangs. Maoz has been outspoken about what he considers divisive left-wing propaganda, such as LGBTQ+ issues and feminism. His Noam party is in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s coalition.
One sees the photo of Maoz and figured that Baruch, essentially a blue-collar worker like the majority of those who support Netanyahu’s Likud party, would be pro Netanyahu. When asked his opinion of the current crises and demonstrations in the street he said, “One day they’ll all be rounded up and put in a cage just like what happened to Mubarak in Egypt.” You mean the protesters? he was asked. “No, Netanyahu and his crowd. All of them. Jail is where they’re headed.”
The answer was a surprise coming from Baruch. However, another tradesman pointed out that ultimately the High Court would strike down the government’s controversial Judicial Reforms. Then the police would have to decide who to follow, the court of law or the government. This tradesman was convinced that the police would follow the rule of law and ignore any and all laws struck down by the High Court.
According to reports in the media, the crises would come when and if the government passes the most controversial of the Judicial Reforms, the one which would allow the Knesset to fire all those on the present High Court and appoint new ones that agreed with the coalition’s views. Then the police and army and the public at large would have to choose who to follow, the present High Court, or the one appointed by the coalition.
Protests, March 2023
Disobeying the Judicial Reforms would be a “red line not to be crossed,” said
Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who is one of the driving forces behind Judicial Reform. But, said one observer, that red line may be easy to cross and face little or no retribution from the government.
Army Reserves
On Wednesday March 22, 2023, Herzi HaLevi, the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, warned Prime Minister Netanyahu that there was a deepening crises within the Israeli Army that would only be exacerbated if the reforms were approved.
One observer points out that more and more “volunteer” IDF reserve soldiers have refused to show up for duty. These volunteers are soldiers, officers, pilots and commandos who have served their normal time in the army and have volunteered to stay on and continuing doing reserve duty.
The problem is, according to one pilot still serving full-time in the regular army, is that nearly two-thirds of all combat pilots are either in the reserves and volunteers. Defense Minister Gen. (Res) Yoav Galant has said that should the trend to not show up for reserve duty continue he may have no choice but to resign his position.
Speaking to Ynetnews, Ayal Naveh, one of the leaders of the reservist resistance, said, “You have to distinguish between those legally obliged to serve and those voluntarily serving. We are calling on the volunteers to not show up for duty if the Judicial Reforms pass, not those in the regular army who are obligated to serve…Israel is in our blood,” said Naveh. “We’re talking about civil war over the fate of our country.”
Reserve soldiers spokesman Lt. Col. (Res) Ron Scherf said if the Judicial Reforms go through more soldiers will refuse to show up for duty, putting Israel’s defense structure at risk. He said that “a people’s army only exists in a democracy.”
Gen. (Res.) Moshe ‘Bogie” Ayalon, Former Defense Minister and former Chief of Staff said, “We’re in a tragic situation that I hope will be resolved in a few weeks. This government in three months has caused severe economic, military and international (diplomatic) damage. This is not a legitimate government and the citizens aren’t behind it…Israel will become a dictatorship as soon as these new laws are passed. Even Washington is hearing the voices of protest.”
U.S. President Joe Biden reportedly called Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu and strongly expressed his displeasure with the way the new government was behaving. One report was that the US would begin to pull back support for Israel.
Meanwhile, according to Channel 13 news military correspondent Alon Ben-David Israel’s enemies are smiling. Hamas leader Hassan Nasrallah has said that we are now witnessing Israel’s demise. Ben David said that there are now serious threats in the West Bank, on the Lebanese border, on the Gaza Border, and from enemies like Iran.
Diplomacy of Sorts
To make matters worse, says one critic, there was Israel’s Transportation Minister Miri Regev who recently visited the UAE city of Dubai, one of the signatories to the Abraham Accords that brought a semblance of normalization between Israel and some Arab neighbors.
After leaving Dubai she said at a conference on Wednesday,“I’ve been to Dubai. I won’t be going back. I don’t like the place,” She later walked back her remarks saying she was joking and the media twisted her words.
This follows a recent visit by head of the ultra-nationalist Jewish Home party, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who told a group at a CitiBank talk in New York that there was no such thing as a Palestinian people.” This roiled the Arab communities in Israel and around the world.
A Few New Laws
The Knesset voted on a bill rolling back the “disengagement” law, that was, according to Ha’aretz, actually an amendment that would allow Israeli settlers to return to areas of the West Bank evacuated in 2005 as part of then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plans.” Some saw this as a quasi annexation of the West Bank. Following the vote there was also a move to resettle the outpost of Homesh in the northern West Bank. One observer said Finance Minister Smotrich and his partners were smiling like cats let into the chicken-coop.
National missions minister Orit Strock, of the ultra-nationalist Religious Zionism party, led by Smotrich, said that next on the agenda was retaking Gaza. Israel had a string of settlements along the Gaza strip until 2005 when there was the unilateral withdrawal under then Prime Minister Sharon.
After protests against the disengagement law were heard from many sources including the USA, Mike Herzog, Israel’s ambassador to the USA, was called in for consultations with deputy Sec. of State Wendy Sherman to explain why the disengagement bill passed.
Shortly after Ambassador Herzog’s meeting with deputy Sec. of State Sherman, Prime Minister Netanyahu said no resettlement of the controversial hilltop of Homesh would be allowed. Still, reportedly, settlers had snuck back into the hilltop and begun to rebuild the makeshift homes there.
Knesset vote March 23,2022. (L to R) MK Kish, PM Netanyahu, JM Levin, Ben Gvir
Other laws the Knesset has passed was one over-riding the High Court’s decision to exclude PM Netanyahu from anything to do with the Judicial Reforms discussion. Or to deny him staying as Prime Minister unless he was declared incompetent mentally or physically. According to Baruch Kara, judicial correspondent for Channel 13 news, the wording of the new law, a change in the ‘basic law’ of the state, was such that the High Court would probably not strike it down.
There are also bills expected to pass that will allow convicted felon Aryeh Deri to regain a position on Israel’s cabinet, another to keep non Passover kosher goods out of hospitals, and one to ban Christian missionary work in Israel.
Financial Advice
Senior finance ministry officials in Israel warned Finance Minister Smotrich that the “Judicial overhaul” could cause “very significant harm” to the economy even affecting Moody’s current A+ rating of Israel.
As of now, according to the TimesofIsrael, the tech industry accounts for 17% of Israel’s GDP and 50% of all exports, 21% of payroll taxes. And a capital investment in 2022 that was over $12 billion.
The CEO’s of five of Israel’s banks have told the PM Netanyahu to stop the overhaul immediately. “You’ll turn Israel into a dictatorship,” they warned. Even Amir Yaron, Governor of the Bank of Israel, was concerned. He met with Israel’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to discuss the Judicial Reforms.
Yaron told CNN last week that the overhaul was “hasty.” He said it was important to stop companies from directing investments away from the Israeli market as several companies have said they plan to do.
According to Ha’aretz, Legal experts believe the high court will strike down the coup even as Israel’s Justice Minister Levin vows to defy the High Court’s dismissal of key Judicial Reform laws. “Israel’s insane government faces crises on all fronts.”
Minister for Diaspora Affairs (Likud) Amichai Shikli has said that he hopes the High Court won’t cancel the Judicial Reforms. “It would be the end of democracy in Israel.” Other supporters of the reforms have said that should the High Court overrule the Knesset’s Judicial Reforms that would be in itself a ‘coup.’
Guns on the Table
Yair Lapid, opposition leader
As hundreds of thousands of people protested around the country, opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) tweeted on Thursday,”That’s it. The masks are off. The gun is on the table…The real prime minister, Yariv Levin, is drawing us into total chaos and a constitutional crisis we won’t be able to come back from. If the Justice Minister is calling on the government not to obey the law, why should the citizens of Israel obey the government?”
One analyst wrote that with half-a-million protesters in the streets, including army reservists in uniform, blocking highways and ports; with a brain drain, castigation by governments and leaders and even staunch friends of Israel: none of these things seem to penetrate Netanyahu’s thought process. He, Levin and Rothman (head of the Knesset Judiciary committee) are racing full speed ahead to pass these Judicial Reforms. What are they thinking? asked the analyst. Don’t they see bloodshed and a possible collapse of the state ahead?
There was a brief ray of hope, however. According to Ynet’s highly-respected veteran reporter Nachum Barnea, on Thursday Defense Minister Yoav Galant told the Prime Minister to suspend the advancement of a bill that reshuffles the powerful judge selection committee in the governing coalitions favor. Galant said he’d spoken to the Prime Minister who agreed, but said that Justice Minister Levine was against the move.
In a surprising turn of events on Thursday Sara Netanyahu, wife of the Prime Minister also called for ‘dialogue, unity and compromise. This as police used water cannons and mounted officers to clear a Tel Aviv highway that had been blocked for more than two hours. By the end of the day over 100 protesters had been arrested around the country.
Viewers expectantly waited for Defense Minister Yoav Galant to announce a breakthrough, a halt to the Judicial Reforms. His televised speech was to be made in Tel Aviv at 19:30. But then the ray of hope began to dim. The news announced Galant was called to Netanyahu’s Jerusalem office to discuss the subject of his press conference. Netanyahu had already notified the television of his own speech to be made an hour after Galant.
Pundits speculated on what Galant would say and what Netanyahu would say. Would Galant call buck the trend in his Likud party and bravely call for halt to the Judicial Reforms? Would Netanyahu agree with Galant? Raviv Drucker of Channel 13 news said he doubted Netanyahu would stop the Judicial Reforms. Another commentator said that Justice Minister Yariv Levine had threatened to quit his job and bring down the government, and put Netanyahu out of a job, if the Judicial Reforms were halted.
Then came the announcement that Defense Minister Galant would not speak at all, only the Prime Minister. Netanyahu came on TV and never mentioned halting the Judicial Reforms, and only made passing reference to the security situation. Raviv Drucker later said he was “disappointed” in Netanyahu’s speech. According to Drucker, Netanyahu said nothing new. Only the same old epithets many of which were untrue.
Moshe ‘Boogie’ Ayalon, sitting on the panel in the Channel 13 studios said, “Netanyahu doesn’t care about anything but himself. Not the country. Not the economy. Not security. Only himself.”
After his speech the pundits knew that Netanyahu would do nothing but keep pushing the Judicial Reforms until he’d passed the one that allowed him to control the High Court. Then he could have the Knesset dismiss any High Court ruling he disagreed with especially one against him, should Netanyahu be convicted of one of the three indictments, for corruption, fraud and breach of trust, he faced.
The only positive sign, so far, is the lack of government supporters counter-protesting. Only a few show up here and there. “Given that situation, the civil war would be over before it starts,” said one observer.
And maybe, as Baruch the window repairman predicts, Netanyahu, Levin, Rothman and others will indeed wind up in cages just like Mubarak.
The question still is: Democracy of dictatorship. Where does Israel go from here?
Medicine
Israeli researchers have done groundbreaking research in the treatment of pancreatic cancer according to a paper published in the prestigious Nature science-oriented journal. Prof. Rotem Karni’s Hebrew University’s Faculty of Medicine’s research team, led by doctoral student Amina Jabara, found that a central protein that controls RNA processing, called RBFOX2, can be reintroduced to metastatic cells inhibiting the formation of metastases.
Travel
Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen visited Poland and announced he and his Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau had signed an agreement that would allow Israeli youth groups to again begin visiting Poland. The two countries had a disagreement over the Holocaust and Poland’s role in it. In 2018 Poland passed a Holocaust speech law that made it illegal to blame Poland as a nation for the Holocaust. A law that has not really ever been applied in practice.
