Israelis Are Trying to Save a Democracy That Never Existed
For the last three months, Israelis have been taking to the streets in the hundreds of thousands, on a weekly basis, to protest what they see as the far-right government’s regime coup—a plan (which it has already begun implementing) to subordinate the judicial system, and change the system of governance to the point that all checks and balances on those in power are removed.
This is being led by a prime minister on trial for corruption in three separate cases, while Israel continues to hold millions of Palestinians under occupation with an agenda to further entrench its control. Each party in the Israeli government has specific and explicit goals that the various laws in this judicial overhaul package would serve.
For the ultra-Orthodox parties, it’s primarily about ensuring their constituency does not have to serve in the military (they study Jewish religious law instead). In 2017, Israel’s Supreme Court struck down a law exempting ultra-Orthodox seminary students from conscription in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on grounds it perpetuates inequality. For the Shas Party specifically, it is also about circumventing existing law to enable their head, Aryeh Deri, to serve as a minister despite several recent convictions of tax fraud.