So what is really happening in Israel?

There has been an avalanche of comments about the crisis in Israel from “friendly” world leaders including the particularly duplicitous President Biden in the United States, but also from

compassionate, cultural Left-wing figures, the mainstream media and NGOs. These fair-weather friends in America, Europe and other countries conclude that democracy in Israel is under severe

threat from the democratically elected government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu.

The main issue (but not the only issue) is his quest for judicial reform. Over the years the Israeli Supreme Court has become more powerful than the Knesset (Parliament), on occasions

overriding the will of parliament. It is regarded by many as Left-wing and its critics say it has become an activist court. For example, it can — and does — interfere in military

appointments. All that is required is for a petition to be presented to the Court, and if the Court regards the petition as reasonable (no definition of reasonable) they will override the

Knesset. The Supreme Court justices in effect appoint themselves, so they are non-elected officials who wield enormous power — more than elected Knesset members.

There is, according to the polls, a clear majority of Israelis in favour of some reform of the judicial system. Similarly, there is a consensus that, without an upper house, there is a need

for constitutional checks and balances. The present position of the Government would move the pendulum in the opposite direction to the judicial activism of recent years. Compromise seems

inevitable and talks are currently taking place.

So given the majority view of the reasonableness of the need for judicial reform, what is really going on?

Ehud Barak, the former Left-wing Israeli Prime Minister, in a recent talk at Chatham House, unveiled his strategy for bringing down the elected Netanyahu government. The full implications of

this statement have not yet been fully plumbed by Israel’s so-called friends.

The real situation is that the losers of the free and fair election last November refuse to acknowledge their loss. They have brought a large minority of the general public onto the streets.

Should the Netanyahu-haters succeed in their quest to unseat an elected government, after a series of earlier, indeterminate elections, then it will empower Israel’s so-called friends to

pressurise it to make even more concessions to its enemies. In this respect Prime Minister Netanyahu faces a similar situation to that of the Ukrainian President Zelensky. Both leaders are

under pressure to acquiesce in “off-ramp” solutions to ensure that their enemies, be they Russia or so-called Palestine, do not lose face and thereby make certain these conflicts will be

“forever wars”.

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