Unpopular Reforms from Jerusalem

Politics within Israel has for decades been contentious over a whole host of issues ranging from how secular the nation is to issues as divisive as the Two-State Solution (Owda, 2023). Recently, one of the most polarizing subjects within Israeli society concerns proposed judicial reforms (Rosenberg, 2023). Within Israel, the potential judicial reforms have significant ramifications for the rule of law within the country as well as Israeli diplomatic initiatives. In the realm of foreign affairs, such a change in policy has ramifications for Israel’s partners in the region that have come to champion the nation’s historic democratic norms (Heller, 2019).

Return of Netanyahu

The story of Israeli politics within the past few election cycles has been one of governing coalitions failing and new coalitions being formed in their place. Prior to the ascension of the previous coalition to the current government in place that proposed controversial judicial reforms, Benjamin Netanyahu formed a coalition government with Benny Gantz in 2020 (Sachs and Huggard 2020). This formation would occur under the ever-present spectre of COVID-19 where protests against the government occurred, and in a continuing theme that connects to contemporary divisions in Israel, Netanyahu gave preferential treatment to the non-secular community when handling his response against the virus. By the time the 2021 elections occurred, which were characterized by having an anti-Netanyahu coalition come to power, his party had been in charge of the government since 2009 (Lederman, 2021). Moreover, the coalition was also notable for having an Arab party join a government for the first time, which served to demonstrate how politically diverse the coalition was to dethrone the Likud party from power. The diverse coalition would ultimately fall apart in 2022 over the issue of the status of settlers in the West Bank when Naftali Bennett withdrew his party’s support from the coalition (Estrin, 2022).

When Netanyahu came back to power in 2022, the government he had formed was the most right-wing in the nation’s history (Kurtzer-Ellenbogen, 2023). While most foreign observers write in their analyses of Israeli politics over the macro-level implications of policies set by the Israeli government, few describe the policy preferences of Israeli society. By examining the Israeli political realm through a lens of Western political foundationalism, many of these experts have inadvertently limited their analyses to a comparison against Western political spectrums. In Israel’s early history, there was a strong contingent of Labour Zionism that emerged from rural kibbutzim that were defined by income equality and collective public ownership (Pethokoukis, 2022). In the decades since then, the traditional Israeli left-wing parties that would resemble Western left-wing political parties have diminished in size. A more staggering fact that is representative of the changing nature of the Israeli political landscape is that no left-wing party has won a general election in Israel in over 20 years (Harkov, 2019). Years of constant conflict with Palestinians have shifted contemporary politics more rightward, with the prompts incorporated within litmus tests asking whether the candidates support a hawkish brand of nationalism that supports settlements (Heller, 2019). Nationalism within Israel has come to include the long controversial settlements even as the settlements themselves have long drawn the consternation of both allies and the international community. In addition, the issue itself has been a matter of contention between Israel and diaspora communities outside of the country.

The Reforms Themselves

Since the judicial reforms have been proposed there has been an unexpected coalition of individuals across Israeli civil society that have come out against the reforms (Rosenberg, 2023). Just how extensive this sentiment of discontent has been is symbolized by the resignation of Asaf Zamir, the Israeli Consul General in New York, due to his disagreement with the judicial reforms of Netanyahu’s coalition (Samuels 2023). As a result of this discontent, there have been several protests in many major Israeli cities that have been trying to dissuade Israel’s most right-wing government to not push forward with the reforms. The reforms were rolled out in early January and have drawn consternation for its contents. Much like the United States, the Israeli Supreme Court constitutionally acts as a check on the powers on both Israel’s executive and legislative branches (American Jewish Committee, 2023).

Due to the widespread anger against the reforms, one would ask what could lie within the reforms that could draw such resentment. The proposed reforms include many parts that would weaken the ability of the Supreme Court of Israel to act independently of its peer branches. Among the parts that would not allow for the legislative branch to meaningfully act independently was the proposed introduction of an override clause that would allow Israel’s legislative body to supersede any ruling of the Supreme Court through a simple majority (Himeles, 2023). Another reform has a strong connection to a similar issue occurring within the United States regarding the issue of judicial appointments. Within the United States, there is a trend of ever-increasing partisanship of judges on the American Supreme Court, as well as partisan interference in the appointment process to the nation’s highest court (Keith, 2022).

As a result, one of the most integral institutions to the functioning of the republic has had its reputation tarnished in the eyes of the public. It is to be noted that the United States does not occupy the same region that has made the nation of Israel shift its politics so rightward, so any action that would compromise the integrity of Israel’s judicial system would likely have a profound effect on the Middle East as a whole. Furthermore, an additional reform included in the package of reforms that would upset the balance of power between Israel's branches of government would be the ability for government ministers to appoint their own legal advisers who may have a significant bias on issues of interest to those who hired them to the position. A potential reason why the current right-wing government would desire to weaken the power of the Israeli judiciary has been due to their history of the courts denying them of achieving their stated policy objectives such as the establishment of settlements.

Abraham Accords and Their Status

Should the legislative reforms package have gone through and been implemented, it would have likely allowed for a pathway for the achievement of policy objectives set forth by right-wing elements of Israeli politics. Doing so would likely upset the neighbors of Israel and potentially derail the diplomatic initiatives that Israel has been pursuing to secure its borders. One such diplomatic initiative has been the Abraham Accords which seeks to increase economic ties between Israel and other Middle Eastern states. The initiative started in 2020 and has been largely successful in improving relations with the Arab world as the Abraham Accords have increased the number of Arab countries that Israel has formal diplomatic ties with (Wilson Center, 2021). Beyond economics, the accords have expanded cooperation between Israel and other signatories of the agreement within the realms of defence and energy (Feierstein and Guzansky, 2022). However, one of the most glaring issues surrounding the Abraham Accords has been the lack of tangible progress surrounding the peace process between the Israelis and Palestinians (Lynfield, 2022). This had been one of the main hopes of policymakers that support pursuing a two-state solution between the two parties. Additionally, different audiences outside of Israel view the accords differently. Within the United States, American legislators in the House of Representatives passed a resolution overwhelmingly supporting the Abraham Accords (Rod, 2023). However, it is to be noted that the resolution did not include any mention of a pathway to continue the process to re-engage with the Palestinians for a two-state solution. On the other side of the spectrum, the Moroccan public strongly supports the Palestinians and they are hesitant to pursue normalized relations with Israel (Rddad, 2021).

American Response to the Judicial Reforms

The judicial reforms proposed by Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition strike at a sore spot in bipartisan support for Israel. President Biden had attempted to pressure Netanyahu to back off from pursuing the controversial reforms as the administration was concerned about the rule of law within Israel (Toosi, 2023). However, pressure would ultimately come from elements of Israeli civil society such as reservists within the country protesting the reforms (Schwartz, 2023). Netanyahu has often disregarded the opinions of American presidents, and over a decade before the present situation concerning his reforms, he addressed the American Congress without the invitation of President Obama (Abrams, 2015). As a result of primarily courting the right-wing within the United States, foreign policy concerning Israel has largely fallen alongside partisan lines. In the opinion of mainstream left-wing foreign policy circles within the U.S., Washington should hold Israel responsible for its erosion of democratic norms (Cook, 2023). They view the issue of supporting Israel in this light because the framing surrounding providing Israel with aid is predicated upon sharing common values with America.

Right-wing foreign policy circles take a far different view, enabling them to achieve the policy preferences of the Israeli right-wing by giving up on traditional frameworks toward peace between themselves and the Palestinians. All of this comes at a time when the United States is facing a strong challenge in the Middle East through China’s increased engagement in the region (Fantappie and Nasr, 2023). While foreign policy surrounding Israel post-Biden would likely depend on the party that will come to occupy the White House, increasing great-power competition in the region could have Washington adopt a pragmatic policy toward the country regardless of the norms it upholds. While Netanyahu may have paused the judicial reforms for now, his appointment of a more divisive general consul to one of the largest communities globally seems to potentially signify that the remainder of his tenure will be governed by a more rightward policy framework that was highlighted by his reforms (Ben Zion, 2023).

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