JERUSALEM: Israeli lawmakers engaged in a shouting match on Monday in a parliamentary committee deciding on government plans to overhaul the judiciary, a move President Isaac Herzog has warned risks tipping the country into “constitutional collapse.”
The plans, which would give rightist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greater control of appointments to the bench and weaken the Supreme Court’s ability to strike down legislation or rule against the executive, have triggered widespread protests.
The Knesset Constitution Committee voted to send the first chapter of the plan to the plenum for a first reading, after a rowdy start to the meeting in which at least three opposition lawmakers were thrown out forcibly, to shouts of “shame, shame.”
“You will burn up the country!,” Idan Roll of the centrist Yesh Atid party told Simcha Rothman, the panel chairman from the hard-right Religious Zionism bloc before being ushered out.
Netanyahu, currently on trial on corruption charges which he denies, says the changes are needed to curb activist judges who have overreached their powers to interfere in the political sphere.
Critics say they risk destroying Israel’s system of democratic checks and balances by weakening the courts, handing unbridled power to the executive and endangering human rights and civil liberties.
Tens of thousands have demonstrated against the plans in weekly protests in Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities and a major demonstration is expected later on Monday to coincide with the move to vote on the bill in the full parliament.
Morning trains from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem were packed with people, many carrying Israeli flags and protest signs, heading to the demonstration.
As well as the parliamentary opposition to Netanyahu’s right-wing government, warnings have come from Israel’s banks and tech sector that the changes risked undermining the civil institutions that underpin Israel’s economic prosperity.
On Sunday evening, in a rare intervention, head of state Herzog made a televised plea for consensus, saying that the bitterness had left Israel on the brink of “constitutional and social collapse.”
US President Joe Biden has urged Netanyahu to build consensus before pushing through far-reaching changes, saying in comments published by the New York Times on Sunday that an independent judiciary was one of the foundations of US and Israeli democracy.
Israeli parliament in uproar over Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans for judiciary
https://arab.news/gfrx6
Israeli parliament in uproar over Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans for judiciary
- Knesset Constitution Committee votes to send the first chapter of the plan to the plenum for a first reading
- Tens of thousands have demonstrated against the plans in weekly protests in Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities
Spain highlights importance of Gaza reconstruction
- Spain officially recognized Palestine as a state in May 2024, in a coordinated move alongside Ireland and Norway
RAMALLAH: The Palestinian prime minister, Mohammed Mustafa, and the Spanish foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, on Friday discussed the latest developments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
During their telephone conversation they emphasized the need to intensify international efforts to end the Israeli occupation and halt attacks and settler violence, and to secure the release of Palestinian funds held by Israeli authorities.
They affirmed the importance of ongoing efforts relating to plans for the reconstruction of Gaza, and Europe’s significant role in this process. Mustafa and Albares highlighted the need to unify Palestinian institutions in Gaza with those in the West Bank, with the aim of establishing a Palestinian state in line with international resolutions, including last year’s New York Declaration.
They also discussed coordination between their countries, and the strengthening of Spain’s political, diplomatic and financial support for Palestine, and Mustafa thanked Spain for its ongoing support.
Spain officially recognized Palestine as a state in May 2024, in a coordinated move alongside Ireland and Norway. Estephan Salameh, the Palestinian finance and planning minister, is set to visit Spain this month to discuss enhanced cooperation, particularly in the areas of development and reconstruction. Meanwhile, Israel continues operating in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Prisoners media office said on Friday that Israel carried out numerous raids across the territory, including the major cities of Ramallah and Hebron, according to The Associated Press.
Nearly 50 people were detained, following the arrest of at least 50 other Palestinians on Thursday, most of those in the Ramallah area.
As 2026 begins, the shaky 12-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has largely ended large-scale Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
But Palestinians are still being killed by Israeli fire, especially along the so-called Yellow Line that delineates areas under Israeli control, and the humanitarian crisis is compounded by frequent winter rains and colder temperatures.
On Friday, American actor and film producer Angelina Jolie visited the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.
The only crossing between the territory and a country other than Israel, it remains closed despite Palestinian requests to reopen it to people and aid.
Jolie met with members of the Red Crescent on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing and then visited a hospital in the nearby city of Arish to speak with Palestinian patients on Friday, according to Egyptian officials.
Aid groups say not enough shelter materials are getting into Gaza during the truce.
