By Athena Papakosta

For the past three months, Israel has remained on the brink of political and social crisis. The reason is the controversial judicial reform promoted by the most right-wing governing coalition in the history of the country under Benjamin Netanyahu. The purpose of this reform – and therefore controversial – is to increase the power of parliamentarians over the judiciary.

Taking a more conciliatory tone, the Israeli prime minister announced early Monday night that he was freezing the bill until a broad consensus was reached. However, he does not withdraw it, which means that the main demand of the protesters was not met. For now, the head of the country’s largest union has announced that he will call off the general strike but the next few days still remain critical.

What did Netanyahu say on Monday night?

First, he spoke of an “extremist minority which”, as he said, “is trying to divide”. He then said he was determined to prevent “a rift in the nation” but made no secret that he still believed in the bill.

At the same time, however, he took time for himself as well as for his governing coalition. He did this by underlining that “when there is an opportunity to avoid civil war through dialogue, I, as prime minister, take a time-out for dialogue.” And to achieve this he decided to delay “the second and third readings in order”, as he said, to “achieve a broad consensus”. As he explained, the choice is made “from a position of national responsibility and national responsibility” since, he added, “the country is at a critical crossroads”.

What is the situation in Israel?

Israel was faced with an unprecedented situation in its history. The popular mobilization was unprecedented and as the days went by the chaos and anger unfolded and drowned the streets as well as the governing coalition itself.

The whole country rolled down its shutters. Ports, airports, public services, banks, hospitals… everything was paralyzed. Even in the police and the army resistance and reactions were recorded. At the same time, the protesters arrived at the doorstep of Netanyahu’s house. Their aim was to force the Israeli prime minister – who had meanwhile fired the country’s defense minister for criticizing the bill – to back down by the end of the week.

On the political front within the ruling coalition of the marginal majority, voices in favor of reform remained and remain with Netanyahu’s main government partner, Ben Gvir, even threatening to resign.

How did we get here?

Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power after last November’s elections. He is the longest-serving prime minister in Israel’s history. But before he was sworn in for the sixth time as prime minister, he remained in political exile for about 18 months. Today, he leads the most right-wing governing coalition in the country’s history, which is made up of his own right-wing party, Likud, the ultra-Orthodox parties Sas and United Torah Judaism, plus three far-right factions, Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism, the Jewish Power by Itamar Ben Gvir and Noam by Avi Maoz.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu, who has been prime minister for a total of 15 years, is at the center of political turmoil in the country as he stands trial on three separate charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes. When he was even accused, his then governing coalition collapsed after his partners withdrew their confidence and the country from 2019 to 2022 was led to the polls up to four (!) times.

What does the judicial reform provide?

Immediately after taking office, Netanyahu’s coalition promised to quickly overhaul the country’s judicial system. Under the proposed changes, the bill provides for Israel’s lower house, the Knesset, to overrule decisions of Israel’s Supreme Court by a simple majority thanks to the override clause included in it.

Critics of this reform explain that the change is motivated by the desire of members of Israel’s government to be able to advance their own ideological agendas with as little judicial oversight as possible. At the same time, her staunch opponents are talking about overturning the state’s safety nets, pointing out that Netanyahu is reshaping the country’s judicial system while he himself is on trial. However, for its part, the Israeli government insists that the changes are necessary to balance the powers.

And now;

Netanyahu’s new proposal for a “freeze” gives him and his government time, but essentially does not bring any solution for the country to find a way out of the political crisis it is in. We remind you that the protesters are calling for the withdrawal of the bill, not its… delay.

As far as the government partners of the prime minister of Israel are concerned, they put water in their wine for a few weeks, specifically until the Jewish Passover. While, in particular, regarding the far-right Itamar Ben Gvir, Minister of National Security, who threatened to resign, he finally received in exchange the establishment of a new police force under his command. As far as the opposition is concerned, it is emphasized that it is willing to enter into a dialogue, while as far as the protesters are concerned, we only know that the strike that had been announced by the country’s largest union is also freezing. But will their anger be postponed until after the Jewish Passover?