Political uncertainty in Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned of increased violence and death threats as protests continue against his government’s planned judicial reforms. Netanyahu criticized the “increasing wave of daily incitement that crosses his office said on Sunday. He also spoke of “an explicit threat to kill the prime minister of Israel,” as well as threats against other elected officials. He was referring to a Facebook post by an Israeli reserve colonel. He said, among other things: “If a prime minister comes and assumes dictatorial powers, that prime minister is marked for death… along with his ministers and the people who execute his orders.”
The former fighter pilot who led the 1981 Israeli Air Force attack on the Iraqi nuclear reactor later distanced himself from this post. However, the police launched an investigation. For weeks, Israelis have been demonstrating against Netanyahu’s far-right government’s plan to deliberately weaken the country’s judiciary. Experts explicitly warn that the reform would endanger democracy in Israel. Netanyahu said of the threat against him: “I know there is a debate about what threatens democracy, but this is not a matter of debate—it really threatens democracy.” In the face of new calls for violent resistance against the reform, the head of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency, Ronen Bar, announced a “zero tolerance policy” against incitement to violence. Netanyahu has dismissed the protests as a refusal by leftist opponents to accept the results of last November’s election, which produced one of the most right-wing governments in Israel’s history. The protesters say Israeli democracy would be undermined if the government succeeds in pushing through the plans, which would tighten political control over judicial appointments and limit the Supreme Court’s powers to overturn government decisions or Knesset laws.
By Cora Sulleyman
