Israel's Judicial Reform Efforts Could Complicate Its Relationship With United States!

NEW YORK - April 12, 2023 - PRLog -- By: Boaz Dvir, Penn State

President Joe Biden startled many Americans and Israelis when he recently asked the Jewish state's new far-right government to make its controversial attempts to reform the judicial system disappear like leavened products before Passover.

Biden's unexpected request came in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposal to weaken the ability of Israel's Supreme Court to review or toss out laws. The country has no written constitution, so some observers think this could throw its checks and balances into disarray.

Netanyahu's plan would also stop the court from overruling the government's legislative and executive branches and allow politicians to appoint judges.

Viewing these efforts as attacks on democracy, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have clogged urban arteries in unceasing, unprecedented protests.

Appearing to side with the protesters, Biden said at the end of March 2023 that the Israeli government "cannot continue down this road."

So disorientating were Biden's remarks that, within 24 hours, they propelled the administration into damage control. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby lauded Netanyahu for holding meetings with other politicians in a futile attempt to reach a compromise.

The reforms Netanyahu proposed, along with dozens of other reactionary proposals, threaten to weaken what many observers consider to be the Middle East's sole democracy.

Still, in the 21st century, an American president has rarely pointed his finger so directly at Israel, one of the United States' top allies. Biden's break from etiquette has prompted Democrats and Republicans alike to wonder: Do the proposed reforms represent a grave risk to American and Israeli relations?

The answer, based on my research into the history of U.S.-Israel relations, is that it's complicated.

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https://theconversation.com/israels-judicial-reform-efforts-could-complicate-its-relationship-with-us-but-the-countries-have-faced-other-bumps-along-the-road-203104