Israel Roiled By Protests.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial judicial overhaul will be voted on today after a tumultuous serval months of protests. (CNN)
Pime Minister Ben Netanyahu
“Israeli lawmakers are set to vote on the first part of the government’s sweeping plan to weaken the power of the country’s courts on Monday, despite six months of street protests, parliamentary maneuvering, compromise talks and increasingly urgent warnings from the White House.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who left hospital on Monday morning after having been fitted with a pacemaker, has been pressing on with his plans for the judicial system overhaul even as protests against them show no signs on easing.
He and his allies call the measures “reforms” and say they are required to rebalance powers between the courts, lawmakers and the government. Opponents of the plan call it a “coup” and say it threatens to turn Israel into a dictatorship by removing the most significant checks on government actions.”
The Biden Administration was sufficiently alarmed enough to weigh in on this controversial Israeli bill which is a rarity. The American right seems to be on quest for more power as well and that is possibly why the President saw fit to comment on Israeli internal politics. In this nation, many far right politicians and their adherents have very dismal views of democracy and when their candidate does not win they claim the whole system is completely rigged against them which demoralizes the broader electorate. No one person is as big as democracy even if they don’t win an election.
