Israelis are stunned to see Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend the country's parliament session Monday (July 24) and vote to pass the first of several judicial reforms his government proposed. The vote was in direct defiance of protests by the Israeli people and pressure from the White House.
The new law prevented courts from using their own idea of "reasonableness" in blocking government policies. Critics had long argued the doctrine allowed the left-leaning judiciary to abuse its power and tended to do so against the nation's conservative governments.
Netanyahu was taken to a hospital in Tel Aviv over the weekend after his heart monitor detected what doctors called a "temporary arrhythmia." The issue with his pacemaker was settled in time for Monday's vote.
Protesters on both sides of the issue have been on the streets for days since the parliament, called the Knesset by Israelis, decided to curb the judiciary's power over government policies. Police used water cannons to deter some of the demonstrators who wanted to block the entrance to the Knesset
Read Also: Israeli Protesters Step Up Demonstrations Against Netanyahu's Judicial Overhaul
Netanyahu Defies Biden
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden gave Netanyahu a last-minute warning not to proceed with the vote despite his own administration being accused of attempting to expand the number of US Supreme Court justices and packing them with its own picks of justices, Breitbart reported.
While the vote to proceed with the first reform was decided, the rest of the reforms have an uncertain future. Netanyahu initially proposed to pass all the reforms at the same time but protests have reconsidered him to negotiate with opposition parties about the matter. Upon the collapse of the talks, and last-minute efforts by several parties to offer compromises, Netanyahu's party decided to vote on the reforms one by one.
Opposition parties boycotted the final vote, tallying the total count at 64 in favor and none against.
Many of the Israeli judicial reforms closely parallel existing practices in the US and other democratic countries.
Israel's judiciary began amassing extraordinary powers in the 1990s.
Related Article: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Attends Key Vote for Judicial Reform Legislation After Being Fitted With Pacemaker
