The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is going ahead with legislation designed to weaken the country’s Supreme Court, a move that analysts are warning could lead to an erosion of democracy and a dramatic constitutional crisis.
A parliamentary committee approved parts of the legislation on Monday in a lightning-quick process that has triggered protests around the country. Leading jurists, economists, and retired security officials have spoken out against the legislation. But Netanyahu’s coalition, made up of far-right and religious parties, is hoping to finalize the reforms in the coming weeks and months.
To understand more about the legislation and the potential impact on Israel and the region, FP’s Dan Ephron spoke to Amir Tibon, a senior editor at the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Watch the full conversation or read an edited version of the interview.
Amir Tibon explains the ways in which the judicial reforms being pushed by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government would weaken Israel’s Supreme Court.
Amir Tibon breaks down how legislation focused on the Israeli judicial system would affect the country’s economy.
Amir Tibon
Senior editor and writer, Haaretz newspaper
Amir Tibon is a senior editor and writer at the Haaretz newspaper and host of the Haaretz Weekly podcast. From 2017 to 2020, he was the paper’s correspondent in Washington, D.C., where he covered the Trump administration, Congress, and the American Jewish community. His writing on Israel and the Middle East has appeared in the New Yorker, the Atlantic, PoliticoMagazine, and other leading U.S. publications. He has also reported from war zones in Syria and Ukraine. Tibon currently lives with his wife and two daughters in Nahal Oz, a small community on the Israeli border with Gaza.
Host
Dan Ephron
Executive editor for podcasts, Foreign Policy
Dan Ephron is the executive editor for podcasts at Foreign Policy. Before joining FP, he spent 13 years at Newsweek, where he served as Jerusalem bureau chief, deputy Washington bureau chief, and national security correspondent. His book, Killing a King: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of Israel, won a Los Angeles Times Book Prize and was chosen by both the New York Times and Washington Post as one of 2015’s 100 notable books.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new right-wing government presents the Biden administration with some unpalatable and inconvenient choices.
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This week marks exactly one year since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine. FP’s Ravi Agrawal spoke with two of the very best Russia experts: Angela Stent, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and the author of Putin’s World: Russia Against the West and With the Rest, and Michael Kofman, the research program director of the Russia studies program at the Center for Naval Analyses. Watch the conversation or read the condensed transcript.
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JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - DECEMBER 29: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir react after sworn in at the Israeli parliament during a new government sworn in discussion at the Israeli parliament on December 29, 2022 in Jerusalem, Israel. Conservative Benjamin Netanyahu and a bloc of nationalist and religious parties won a clear election victory last month and will be sworn in as government to the Knesset today. This completes Netenyahu's political comeback with a record sixth term in office. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)
Can U.S. President Joe Biden really support Ukraine against Russia for “as long as it takes,” as he has pledged? Congressional support for this aid has largely been bipartisan and wide-r...Show moreanging, but Ron DeSantis and other leading Republicans are beginning to question whether the United States is prepared to keep it up. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Moscow, as the competition between the United States and China intensifies and the diplomatic relationship dives to a new low.
Heading into a possible reelection year, FP’s reporters will discuss if and how Biden can juggle these substantial foreign-policy issues—and how the campaign trail might change things. They’ll also talk about the budget and what it reveals about the administration’s foreign-policy agenda.
Plus, as always, there will be a glimpse into the reporters’ notebooks, with insider insights into what Washington is really talking about when it comes to geopolitics. Tune in for the inside scoop and watch FP’s reporters in conversation with the magazine’s executive editor, Amelia Lester.
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - DECEMBER 29: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir react after sworn in at the Israeli parliament during a new government sworn in discussion at the Israeli parliament on December 29, 2022 in Jerusalem, Israel. Conservative Benjamin Netanyahu and a bloc of nationalist and religious parties won a clear election victory last month and will be sworn in as government to the Knesset today. This completes Netenyahu's political comeback with a record sixth term in office. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been protesting weekly against their government’s plans to overhaul—and weaken—the country’s judiciary. Several former military officials have ...Show moreaccused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a judicial power grab, raising the question of whether serving officers will disobey what they might see as an illegitimate government.
How will Israel’s constitutional crisis develop? What happens if an internal mutiny actually takes place? And how does the United States continue its partnership with a country it once lauded as the sole democracy in the Middle East?
Ehud Barak, Israel’s former prime minister, who also served as the country’s defense minister and army chief, will join FP’s Ravi Agrawal for a live discussion about the future of Israel’s democracy and what happens next in the current standoff.
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - DECEMBER 29: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir react after sworn in at the Israeli parliament during a new government sworn in discussion at the Israeli parliament on December 29, 2022 in Jerusalem, Israel. Conservative Benjamin Netanyahu and a bloc of nationalist and religious parties won a clear election victory last month and will be sworn in as government to the Knesset today. This completes Netenyahu's political comeback with a record sixth term in office. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)
Every year, the top Chinese legislative and advisory bodies meet for two weeks to rubber-stamp decisions already made by the Chinese Communist Party. It’s called the “two sessions,” ...Show moreand it began on March 4. This year’s meeting is the first since the end of zero-COVID restrictions; it’s also an opportunity to get an inside look into the Chinese leadership’s fears and priorities.
Beyond the headlines, what can the world expect from the convening? What will it mean for China’s economy, defense budget, and foreign policy?
Join FP’s Ravi Agrawal in conversation with a panel of China experts as they decipher the news from Beijing: Ryan Hass is the former China director at the National Security Council under President Barack Obama and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Zongyuan Zoe Liu is an FP columnist and fellow for international political economy at the Council on Foreign Relations, and James Palmer is a deputy editor at Foreign Policy and the author of the magazine’s China Brief newsletter.
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