As Israeli streets continue to erupt in protest over proposed judicial reforms and the passage of a law addressing the Supreme Court’s “reasonableness” standard, the Israeli and American left, including former Israeli prime ministers leading the protests, Democrats in Congress, American Jewish organizations and international media, unite in cries of democracy on the brink, an attempted coup by the Netanyahu governing coalition, and impending totalitarianism.
All of these claims are exaggerations designed to prevent the Netanyahu government, duly elected by the Israeli citizenry, from moving forward with fulfilling its campaign promises.
But they are worse than that. The hyperbolic rhetoric and the accompanying protests have grave implications for the ability of the Israeli government, medical institutions, military and basic civil services to properly function, leading to dangerous strife and long-term damage to the Jewish homeland. All the while the international community, including Israel’s enemies, looks on and draws its conclusions.
Threats that military reservists will retire and refuse to serve, doctors leave the country, tech companies pull out and other damaging steps being made by angry leftists seeking to save “their democracy” are incessantly reported by both Israeli and American media outlets painting a dire prospect for the Jewish state.
Join us for an in-depth discussion with international law expert Avi Bell and JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin to understand the history of Israel’s judicial system, what the reform proposals actually are, what they would change in the Israeli government’s day-to-day operations, and what the protests are really about and their implications for the survival of Israel’s democratically-elected government and for the country’s well-being more generally.
