The amendment limiting the Supreme Court’s powers to void some government decisions if it deemed them “unreasonable” passed by a 64-to-0 vote in the 120-member parliament after opposition abandoned the session in protest, some of them shouting: “For shame!”
Thousands of protesters who had converged on Jerusalem flooded a highway near parliament, scuffling with police who cleared the road by dragging them across the asphalt and using water cannons, including one that sprayed a foul-smelling substance. By evening, protesters had taken to the streets of cities across the country. An alliance of 150 major businesses, including the country’s biggest malls, shuttered their doors in protest before the vote began.
Critics say the amendment has been rushed and will open the door to abuses of power by removing one of the few effective checks on the executive’s authority in a country without a formal written constitutionThe amendment is part of plans the government announced in January, soon after it was sworn in, setting off months of unprecedented nationwide protests and stirring concern among allies abroad for Israel’s democratic health. Moredeadlock loomed, however. Within minutes of the vote, a political watchdog group and the centrist opposition leader said they would appeal against the law at the Supreme Court.
The crisis has caused a deep divide in Israeli society and has seeped into the military, with protest leaders saying thousands of volunteer reservists would not report for duty if the government continues with the plans and former top brass warning that Israel’s war-readiness could be at risk.
Justice minister Yariv Levin, an architect of the reforms package cast by Netanyahu as needed to create more balance among branches of government, sounded undeterred. “We took the first step in the historic, important process of fixing the justice system and restoring powers that were taken from the government and the Knesset,” he said. Netanyahu later suggested putting the rest of the judicial overhaul plan on hold until late November, to allow time for talks. “In the coming days, the coalition will approach the opposition with the aim of holding a dialogue between us,” he said. The leader, who was in the hospital to get a pacemaker on Sunday, delivered his statement from his office.