Supreme Court President Esther Hayut denounced on Thursday the new government’s plan to overhaul Israel’s judicial system. Addressing a conference in Haifa, Hayut warned that such a plan would deal a “fatal blow” to the country’s democratic identity. Her unprecedentedly fierce speech reflected the current schism in Israel, pitting the liberal values that guided the founders of the state against the conservative, nationalist forces that have assumed control of the country in recent weeks.
The specter of an internal battle, which emerged in Israeli discourse after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his radical partners won the Nov. 1 elections, appeared imaginary at first, even absurd. But just two months on, these doomsday scenarios are materializing at high speed, gathering steam as they appear headed for a mighty clash between Israel’s judicial and legal system and the political forces intent on crushing it.