Ramallah: Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories are warily observing the intensification of Israelis' irate mass demonstrations.
As the government moves forward with the proposed changes, tens of thousands of Israelis are protesting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's divisive plan to overhaul the nation's legal system.
The protesters oppose legislation that Netanyahu and his right-wing and religious allies want to pass because it would give lawmakers the final say in selecting judges while limiting the Supreme Court's ability to rule against the legislature and executive.
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Supporters of the action argue that the Supreme Court needs to be restrained from encroaching too far into politics. However, the plan's detractors contend that it will weaken the judiciary, jeopardize civil liberties, harm the economy, and damage Israel's relations.
While others are optimistic about the protests and support them, some Palestinians are wary because the extreme right-wing Israeli government's policies are related to judicial reforms and could affect their political and existential future.
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Others believe Israel should not care about the demonstrations because they are an internal Israeli issue. However, since they are under Israeli occupation, most Palestinians concur that everything that occurs in Israeli politics directly affects them, whether it be in the areas of security, life, the economy, or even politics.
"A large part of the reforms that are intended to be implemented will weaken the Israeli judiciary, which is a location for Palestinians to file grievances and appeals against the Israeli occupation's measures against them," Esmat Mansour, a Palestinian expert on Israeli affairs, told Arab News.
The Israeli Supreme Court could overturn some of the laws passed by the Knesset (Israel's parliament) and the military decisions made by the Israeli army against Palestinians in the occupied territories, he added.
Most Palestinians lack faith in the Israeli judicial system and are reluctant to take the occupation's actions against them to court there.
According to Mansour, the 1993 deportation of numerous Palestinians to Marj Al-Zuhur in Lebanon was halted by Israel's Supreme Court.
The evacuation of the haphazard outpost of Amona, located close to the settlement of Ofra, east of Ramallah, as well as changing the path of the separation wall that Israel built between it and the West Bank over Palestinian lands were also supported, he continued.
In the fall of last year, it also evacuated the outpost of Avitar close to Jabal Abu Sbeih, south of Nablus, according to Mansour.
Therefore, the Israeli government, army, and settlers are given more freedom to continue attacking Palestinians when this extreme right-wing government passes legislation that weakens the Israeli judiciary.
According to Mansour, the Israeli public was the most significant audience for the Palestinians because it had the power to elect and remove governments.
The Israeli protests "leave the Palestinians with some hope that there are people in Israel who oppose the annexation of the West Bank and the elimination of the two-state solution," another Palestinian expert said, in agreement with the first.
Another observer claimed that the Supreme Court had previously responded to a Palestinian petition requesting the return of Palestinian bodies Israel had been holding and the deportation of Palestinians to other countries.
Despite the fact that their internal disputes have nothing to do with our predicament or our future, a senior Fatah leader who asked to remain anonymous told Arab News: "We do not want to interfere with their internal disputes. The Israeli Supreme Court was established to provide justification for the crimes committed against our people by the occupation.
Arab News was informed by Palestinian sources that Israeli organizers of the protests had requested that Palestinians living in Israel refrain from participating in the anti-Netanyahu demonstrations so as not to intimidate those who were attending.
According to sources, the Palestinian Authority and Palestinians living in Israel kept quiet about the protests out of a desire to avoid being used by the Israeli right to disparage the protest organizers and weaken their position.
