The President of the United States, Joe Biden, referred for the first time directly to the judicial reform that is being promoted in Israel these days by the new government and attacked the way in which the reform is being pushed forward by the coalition without any wider consensus.
Biden's opinion was published in a column by journalist Thomas Friedman, a longtime top columnist for The New York Times, who sent Biden a few questions regarding Israel. In response to a question from Friedman about the mass demonstrations in Israel against the reform, Biden said that it is important to build a consensus so that the people buy into the changes being pushed by the Netanyahu-led coalition.
Friedman writes: “With Biden’s 46 words, Netanyahu now finds himself in a situation where, if he just keeps plowing ahead, he won’t just be snubbing the Israeli president; he will be snubbing the American president as well. That’s no small deal.” https://t.co/Mdq9ilhpdT
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) February 12, 2023
Biden said: “The genius of American democracy and Israeli democracy is that they are both built on strong institutions, on checks and balances, on an independent judiciary. Building consensus for fundamental changes is really important to ensure that the people buy into them so they can be sustained.”
Biden’s comments on the ongoing judicial debate in Israel come after Israeli demonstrators against the reforms took the streets for the 6th Saturday night in a row. Dozens of thousands demonstrated against the judicial reform throughout the country, claiming that the reforms proposed currently will destroy the integrity of Israel as a democracy. It should be noted that the coalition pushing for the reforms has been supportive of the peaceful protesting, as a symbolic gesture to demonstrate the importance of protecting freedom of speech.
Joe Biden: "If Israel didn't exist, the US would have to invent one to protect US interests" pic.twitter.com/bwT2aHg3Gi
— ☘️ Halal Nation ☘️ (@halalhomer_) February 6, 2023
The demonstrations throughout the country took to the streets immediately with the end of the Sabbath. They began their protest with a moment of silence, due to the murderous attack that took place on Friday at a bus stop at the entrance to the Ramot neighborhood in Jerusalem, in which three people, including two children under the age of 10, were murdered.
Over ten thousand people participated in a demonstration in Haifa, in which the winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Prof. Avraham Hershko, spoke and called to "stop the madness".
"What is happening here is an attempt to turn Israel from a democracy to a dictatorship, to a tyranny," added Hershko, "who will protect the citizens from the tyranny of the government?"
🔴BREAKING: President Biden weighs in for the 1st time on Netanyahu's plan to weaken the judicial system, stresses the importance of an independent judiciary and calls for building broad consensus around any fundamental changehttps://t.co/5oa4GS5Oqz
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) February 12, 2023
The main demonstration has been taking place on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv every Saturday evening. At the same time as mentioned, demonstrations were held in many centers throughout the country, including Jerusalem, Haifa, Beer Sheva, Kiryat Ono, Rishon Lezion, Gush Etzion, and Herzliya.
