Jewish groups in the US have condemned the Israeli parliament’s vote to limit the power of the judiciary as a threat to democracy and warned that it could damage relations with American Jews. But the White House limited its criticism to calling the outcome “unfortunate” in a sign that the Biden administration is unlikely to impose any real costs on Benjamin Netanyahu’s government for defying the president’s calls to delay the vote and reach a compromise with his opponents.
After seven months of fierce debate, the Israeli government on Monday voted to limit the court’s ability to overturn laws and give politicians more control over judicial appointments. The changes have been denounced by critics as a transparent power grab that will erode democratic norms and aid Netanyahu’s fight against graft charges, which he denies.
Others have warned that the legislation is a step toward the desire of the ultranationalists in Netanyahu’s government to annex some or all of the occupied territories.
The American Jewish Committee, one of the oldest pro-Israel groups in the US, expressed “profound disappointment” at the vote and said it is “gravely concerned” that it will deepen divisions in Israeli society amid huge demonstrations against the law, including in the military with thousands of military reservists threatening to refuse to report for duty.
“The continued effort to press forward on judicial reform rather than seeking compromise has sown discord within the Israeli Defense Forces at a time of elevated threats to the Jewish homeland and has strained the vital relationship between Israel and diaspora Jewry,” it said.
The Israel Policy Forum, founded three decades ago to give support in the US to Israeli-Palestinian peace accords, said it was “dismayed” at the vote and warned that it “will be damaging to Israeli democracy, Israel’s international standing, the US-Israel alliance, and the relationship between Israel and American Jews”.
The New Israel Fund called it a “dark day in the history of the state of Israel and the Jewish people”.
Some members of congress joined in the criticism. Representative Jerry Nadler, former chair of the House judiciary committee, condemned Netanyahu and “his extremist coalition”, calling the vote “a dark day for Israeli democracy”.
In contrast, the Biden administration issued a brief statement that avoided direct criticism.
“As a lifelong friend of Israel, President Biden has publicly and privately expressed his views that major changes in a democracy to be enduring must have as broad a consensus as possible. It is unfortunate that the vote today took place with the slimmest possible majority,” it said.
The “pro-Israel, pro-peace” group J Street pressed for the White House and Congress to go further.
“While the Netanyahu government fundamentally alters Israel’s democratic character and plows ahead toward a more authoritarian and ethno-nationalist future, ‘business as usual’ from Congress and the White House is a recipe for terrible failure,” it said.
Debra Shushan, the group’s director of policy, said Biden made “important personal interventions” in pressing Netanyahu to delay the vote but needs to take a firmer stand.
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“With the Israeli government crossing bright red lines, and advancing anti-democratic transformation in Israel, we need serious action from the administration. No more business as usual, and obviously something that goes beyond a comment about this being unfortunate,” she said.
“We have Israeli protesters taking very strong actions in the street. A much stronger statement by the Biden administration would be very important for them. That’s how the administration can show true support, significant support, for Israeli democracy and those who are fighting to uphold it.”
Shushan said Biden should make it clear to Netanyahu that he won’t be invited to the White House while his government is taking actions that undermine Israeli democracy.
Aaron David Miller, a US Middle East peace negotiator during several administrations, said he expects Biden to avoid a “messy, distracting and potentially politically costly” public fight with Netanyahu.
“There is nothing that I’ve seen in eight months to back up the fact that this president will impose any real costs and consequences on Israel, certainly not over the judicial issue. In response to what is an annexation policy in everything but name, where are the costs and the consequences?” he said.
Miller said there is also domestic politics to consider.
“Joe Biden cannot do anything to undermine his capacity to deal with the most important major challenge that he faces – preventing the re-election of Donald Trump. The Republican party’s emerged as the Israel-right-or-wrong party. Biden does not want to get caught between that and his own party, which is divided between progressives and mainstream Democrats who are very supportive still of Israel,” he said.
“The only thing that would push them is if you ended up with a situation in the West Bank that was qualitatively and quantitatively beyond anything we’ve seen. A major conflict which involves the disproportionate use of Israeli force and large numbers of Palestinian civilians are killed.”
