Massive Crowds of Israelis Are Protesting Netanyahu's Supreme Court Power Play, Again

[marmar]

Tens of thousands of Israelis marched into Jerusalem on Saturday, completing a four-day hike from Tel Aviv to the ancient capital city to protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s renewed effort to increase his control over Israel’s Supreme Court.

The demonstrators assembled around the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, ahead of a vote scheduled for Monday on a bill from Netanyahu’s far-right coalition government that would strip the Supreme Court of its power to declare government decisions “unreasonable.” That is one of few checks on Israeli prime ministers in a country without a written constitution or bill of rights.

Link to tweet

Protesters also gathered in Tel Aviv, Haifa, and elsewhere in Israel to try to head off the judicial takeover. Israeli military reservists, including hundreds of pilots, have pledged to suspend their volunteer service if Netanyahu moves ahead with his power grab. Israeli health care workers also have begun striking. ..............(more)

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/07/israeli-protests-netanyahu-supreme-court-massive-crowds-jerusalem/

[Butterflylady]

1. I can not figure these people out.

Once they got rid of Netanyahu why the hell did the people of Israel vote him back in?

[Marius25]

5. They really didn't. Netanyahu only got 23% of the vote.

That gave him 32 seats (you need 61 to form a government). Netanyahu agreed to align with the far-right religious parties which gave him another 32 seats.

It's an almost 50/50 split among the pro-Bibi side and anti-Bibi side. Bibi's coalition got 49.57%. Anti-Bibi got 48.94%.

Turnout was around 70%, so of 70% of the voters, not even 50% supported the Bibi coalition.

[Joinfortmill]

2. Never again. Keep saying it.

[Tetrachloride]

3. No constitution. Who knew

[Celerity]

4. The UK has no written constitution codified into a single document

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/explainers/what-uk-constitution

The UK is often said to have an ‘unwritten’ constitution. This is not strictly correct. It is largely written, but in different documents. But it has never been codified, brought together in a single document. In this respect, the UK is different from most other countries, which have codified constitutions. But not all: New Zealand and Israel also lack a codified constitution. Codified constitutions are typically produced following a major historic turning point, such as the grant of independence, revolution, defeat in war, or complete collapse of the previous system of government. None of these things have happened to the UK, which is why it has never had cause to codify its constitution. (Our one revolution, in the 17th century, did briefly produce a written constitution: Cromwell’s Instrument of Government).

This is the reason why the UK has not felt the need to codify its constitution. But the UK does have a constitution, to be found in leading statutes, conventions, judicial decisions, and treaties. Examples of constitutional statutes include the Bill of Rights 1689, Acts of Union 1707 and 1800, Act of Settlement 1701, Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949, Human Rights Act 1998, Scotland Act, Northern Ireland Act and Government of Wales Act 1998. Examples of conventions include that the monarch acts on ministerial advice; that the Prime Minister sits in the House of Commons; that the Queen appoints as Prime Minister the person most likely to command the confidence of the House of Commons. These and other conventions have themselves been codified in documents such as the Cabinet Manual.

Parliamentary sovereignty is commonly regarded as the defining principle of the British Constitution. This is the ultimate law-making power vested in the UK parliament to create or abolish any law. But parliament can limit its law making power, as in the Human Rights Act; or devolve legislative power, as in the Scotland Act. Other core principles of the British Constitution include the rule of law, the separation of government into executive, legislative, and judicial branches, the accountability of ministers to parliament, and the independence of the judiciary.

The main disadvantage of an uncodified constitution is that it is harder to understand. Another is that it is easier to amend than in countries with written constitutions with elaborate amendment procedures. But this flexibility can also be seen as an advantage: it has enabled the removal of hereditary peers from the House of Lords, introduction of the Human Rights Act, devolution to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and creation of the Supreme Court. The UK constitution has multiple guardians. These include the Supreme Court, in its constitutional judgements (such as Miller/Cherry in 2019); the House of Lords Constitution Committee, and the Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee; the Lord Chancellor; and specific constitutional watchdogs, such as the Judicial Appointments Commission, or the Electoral Commission.

snip

[moondust]

6. Military protests.

Over 1,000 Israeli Air Force personnel, including hundreds of pilots, announced on Friday that they will suspend their reserve duty if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government continues with its plans to vastly overhaul the country's judiciary.
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Over 1,000 Israeli Air Force Personnel to Suspend Reserve Duty if Netanyahu's Judicial Coup Continues