Pressure from business, tech sectors likely to push Israel's government to compromise on judicial reforms

Al-Monitor Pro Members

David Rosenberg

Israeli reporter specializing in business, economics and politics

Feb. 6, 2023

A proposal to weaken the independence of the courts and politicize the government’s legal apparatus risks harming the Israeli business environment. In addition, hardline policies on the Palestinians and settlement expansion risk damaging the perception of Israel as a liberal democracy and raising the risk of resurgent violence, further deterring foreign investment and depressing local business and consumer sentiment.    

Scenario 1: The government compromises on reform plans  

The government compromises on some provisions of the judicial reform program. It could take the form of increasing the Knesset majority required to override High Court decisions from the very narrow 61 votes in the 120-member legislature and by agreeing not to allow the composition of the judicial appointments committee to be too heavily slanted in favor of coalition nominees. This would enable the government to gradually tilt the High Court more to the right while preserving a modicum of judicial independence. On the issue of legislation enabling Deri to rejoin the cabinet as a minister, Netanyahu has little room to compromise without the risk of Shas leaving the coalition. But he will have a difficult time convincing the court that any bill that is passed is not “personal” legislation designed for Deri, which the High Court would likely rule as unconstitutional.   

Scenario 2: The Knesset adopts reforms as proposed   

Knowing it has enough Knesset votes, the government legislates the entire package as originally proposed or with cosmetic changes. The immediate practical impact would be small, because the reforms would take time to manifest themselves, but Israel's democratic image would be harmed, especially if it also pursues controversial policies in the West Bank and at home favoring the ultra-Orthodox minority and discriminating against LGBT and Arab Israelis. Although the most hard-line members of his coalition, including Justice Minister Yariv Levin, have said they see little or no room for compromise, it is unlikely Netanyahu is prepared to pay such a heavy price to enact the legal reforms. His highest priority is to find a way to have the criminal indictment against him dropped, which would entail measures, like weakening the power of the attorney- general, which are not contained in the reform package.   

Scenario 3: The Government abandons reform measures  

The government abandons the legal reform plan, at least for now. Doing so would mark an embarrassing policy failure early in the term of the government but not necessarily a fatal one. The coalition partners have higher priorities, including tightening Israel’s grip on the West Bank and measures favoring the ultra-Orthodox population. As long as the coalition can continue to smooth over differences among themselves, these priorities should keep it intact. Netanyahu himself is not believed to give the legal reforms a high priority. That said, there are other measures, such as weakening the powers of the attorney- general by splitting the role into two, that Netanyahu will undoubtedly want to pursue    

David Rosenberg has more than 30 years experience reporting, commenting and speaking on business, economics and politics in Israel and the Middle East. He has worked for Reuters, The Jerusalem Post and Dow Jones, and was bureau chief for Israel for Bloomberg News. He is the author of two books (Cloning Silicon Valley, 2001, and Israel’s Technology Economy, 2018) and has been published in The Wall Street Journal and Foreign Policy. He now writes commentary for the Haaretz daily. 

To get Al-Monitor PRO updates straight to your phone, text ALM to (202) 978-4542.