Dubai: Despite weeks of intense nationwide pro-democracy demonstrations, Israeli lawmakers voted on Monday to implement a crucial component of what its proponents have long referred to as "judicial overhaul."
Political analysts assert that these new restrictions on judicial authority may serve to eliminate the very few, and frequently painfully insufficient, means by which Arab citizens of Israel can seek justice in the nation. This is despite the fact that the decision was met with immediate opposition from various segments of Israeli society.
Leading opposition figures have also warned Palestinian Arab residents of Israel about the consequences of what they see as the country's declining democracy. Arabs "are going to be hurt the most from these reforms," said Knesset member Aida Touma-Suleiman of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality Party during a march honouring Land Day this year.
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However, "this does not mean the Israeli courts have been fair to the Arabs," Palestinian author and commentator Ramzy Baroud said in an interview with Arab News. While the supreme court of any nation is supposed to serve as the unbiased enforcer of justice and overturn laws that are discriminatory or violate human rights.
On the contrary, Arab and pro-Arab civil society and legal organisations have challenged and litigated most of the discriminatory laws passed by the Israeli Knesset over the years. However, Israeli courts, including the Supreme Court itself, have upheld each of these laws.
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The Nation-State Law of 2018 that officially proclaimed Israel a Jewish nation, according to Baroud, was upheld by the Supreme Court, "degrading the rights of Arab and other minorities, including their culture, historical claims, and language."
The most recent modifications, put into effect in January by Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin, are extensive: the government will have complete control over the selection of Supreme Court justices; courts will not be permitted to hear arguments challenging Israel's Basic Laws, which serve as the country's constitution; and Supreme Court rulings that invalidate laws can be overturned by the Knesset, Israel's parliament, after a reintroduction and majority vote for approval.
The reform process was put on hold in late March to allow for talks, but no agreement could be reached between the government and various opposition parties. On July 24, the reform package's section repealing the "reasonableness clause," a mechanism that permitted the nation's Supreme Court to overturn legislative decisions that it believed to be unreasonable or against the public interest, was approved.
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The judiciary is one of the only powers in a nation like Israel that can resist the complete subjugation of the government by the legislative and executive branches. In Israel, both the legislative and executive branches are controlled by the same coalition.
"If you have three branches of government and two of them are close to one another, you're left with the judiciary to make sure the government isn't assuming total power and abusing its discretion. Consequently, many Israelis are aware that the government's goal is to consolidate power, which is why many Israelis understand this. Yossi Mekelberg, a professor of international relations and a member of Chatham House's MENA Programme