Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has arrived at parliament for a key vote related to his government’s bitterly contested judicial overhaul, only hours after being discharged from hospital after an emergency heart procedure.
Thousands of demonstrators who marched from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem last week remained camped out outside the Knesset on Monday before two votes on the plenum floor, in which the “reasonableness” clause allowing the supreme court to overrule government decisions is expected to be abolished.
Several roads in Jerusalem were blocked as a result of the protest action, with police using water cannon to push back demonstrators. Businesses around the country closed their doors in solidarity with the protesters.
If the bill passes, it will be the first major piece of legislation to be approved since the changes to the judiciary were proposed in January, despite seven months of sustained protests. The issue has split the nation along lines of religion, ethnicity and class, raised questions over the military’s cohesion and operational readiness, damaged the shekel, and led to public concerns for Israel’s democratic health from key allies such as the US.
The overhaul, introduced shortly after Netanyahu returned to office at the head of the most extremist rightwing government coalition in Israeli history, calls for sweeping changes aimed at curbing the powers of the unelected judiciary, including limiting the supreme court’s ability to challenge parliamentary decisions and giving politicians more control over the appointment of judges.
Supporters of the changes argue that they are needed to rein in what they see as a leftwing bias in the decisions of the supreme court, which serves a prominent role in a country with no formal constitution and only one legislative chamber.
Critics say they fear democratic backsliding and allege that the overhaul will aid Netanyahu’s fight against graft charges, which he denies.
The US president, Joe Biden, on Sunday once again publicly called on Netanyahu not to go ahead with Monday’s vote, saying: “Given the range of threats and challenges confronting Israel right now, it doesn’t make sense for Israeli leaders to rush this – the focus should be on pulling people together and finding consensus.”
Months of talks led by Israel’s ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, to broker a compromise between the government and opposition parties have failed, but Herzog met again with political leaders on Sunday night in a last-minute effort to get the parties to agree to pause passing the legislation.
Herzog visited Netanyahu in hospital immediately after returning from a state visit to the US on Sunday night. “This is a time of emergency,” his office said in a statement. “We have to reach an agreement.”
Postponement talks are continuing in Netanyahu’s office, Hebrew media reported, while opposition parties plan to boycott the final vote on scrapping the “reasonableness” clause.
Voting is expected to begin on Monday afternoon, and could last well into the evening. An opposition boycott would have no technical impact on the passing of the bill.
If the bill becomes law, it is expected that the coalition will immediately move to reinstate the disgraced interior minister, Aryeh Deri, who was barred from holding a cabinet position by the supreme court, as well as introducing legislation permanently exempting ultra-Orthodox men from military service, and bills expanding Israeli settlement and control of the occupied West Bank.
Of foremost concern for supporters and detractors of the legislation alike is the possibility that upwards of 10,000 military reservists – some in crucial roles, such as special forces, pilots, and intelligence officers – will stop reporting for duty if the overhaul is advanced.
“These are dangerous cracks,” military chief Lt Gen Herzi Halevi wrote in a letter to soldiers on Sunday meant to address the tensions. “If we will not be a strong and cohesive military, if the best do not serve in the IDF [Israel Defence Forces], we will no longer be able to exist as a country in the region.”
The political drama in Israel escalated on Saturday night, after it emerged that Netanyahu had been taken to hospital for the emergency fitting of a pacemaker.
The 73-year-old was admitted to the Sheba medical centre after a heart monitoring device implanted last week showed anomalies. The operation went smoothly, but the episode has raised questions over the premier’s health after Israeli media reported on Sunday that cardiac arrhythmia was detected in another hospitalisation last week, and the information withheld from the public.
In a short video statement from the hospital on Sunday, Netanyahu, 73, said he felt fine and thanked his doctors for his treatment and the public for wishing him well.
Netanyahu has appointed a deputy prime minister – the justice minister, Yariv Levin – but Levin does not automatically assume the office in the event Netanyahu is incapacitated.
In 2010, the prime minister’s office released a protocol requiring annual public reports on the incumbent’s health, but Netanyahu’s staff have not released this since 2016.
