JERUSALEM, 24 Jul: Israeli lawmakers on Monday approved a key portion of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s divisive plan to reshape the country\u2019s justice system despite massive protests that have exposed unprecedented fissures in Israeli society.
\nThe vote came after a stormy session in which opposition lawmakers chanted \u201cshame\u201d and then stormed out of the chamber.
\nIt reflected the determi-nation of Netanyahu and his far-right allies to move ahead with the plan, which has tested the delicate social ties that bind the country, rattled the cohe-sion of its powerful military and repeatedly drawn concern from its closest ally, the United States.
\nThe overhaul calls for sweeping changes aimed at curbing the powers of the judiciary, from limiting the Supreme Court\u2019s ability to challenge parliamentary decisions to changing the way judges are selected. Netanyahu and his allies say the changes are needed to curb the powers of unelected judges.
\nProtesters, who come from a wide swath of Israeli society, see the overhaul in general as a power grab fueled by personal and political grievances of Netanyahu \u2014 who is on trial for corruption charges \u2014 and his partners.
\nIn Monday\u2019s vote, lawmakers approved a measure that prevents judges from striking down government decisions on the basis that they are \u201cunreasonable.\u201d
\nWith the opposition out of the hall, the measure passed by a 64-0 margin.
\nAfter, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, the architect of the plan, said parliament had taken \u201cfirst step in an important historic process\u201d of overhauling the judiciary.
\nMore mass protests are now expected, and the Move-ment for Quality Government, a civil society group, immediately announced it would challenge the new law in the Supreme Court.
\nThe grassroots protest movement condemned the vote, saying Netanyahu\u2019s \u201cgovernment of extremists is showing their determi-nation to jam their fringe ideology down the throats of millions of citizens.\u201d
\n\u201cNo one can predict the extent of damage and social upheaval that will follow the passage of the legislation,\u201d it said.
\nEarlier, demonstrators, many of whom feel the very foundations of their country are being eroded by the government\u2019s plan, blocked a road leading up to the parliament, and big mall chains and some gas stations shuttered their doors in protest.
\nFurther ratcheting up the pressure on Netanyahu, thousands of military reservists have declared their refusal to serve under a government taking steps that they see as setting the country on a path to dictatorship. Those moves have prompted fears that the military\u2019s preparedness could be compromised.
\nAhead of Monday\u2019s vote, opposition leader Yair Lapid had declared: \u201cWe are headed for disaster.\u201d
\nThe vote came only hours after Netanyahu was released from the hospital, where he had a pacemaker implanted.
\nHis sudden hospitalization added another dizzying twist to an already dramatic series of events, which were watched closely in Washington. The Biden administration has frequently spoken out against Netanyahu\u2019s gove-rnment and its overhaul plan. In a statement to the news site Axios late Sun-day, President Joe Biden warned against pushing ahead with the legal changes that were sparking so much division. (AP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
JERUSALEM, 24 Jul: Israeli lawmakers on Monday approved a key portion of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s divisive plan to reshape the country\u2019s justice system despite massive protests that have exposed unprecedented fissures in Israeli society. The vote came after a stormy session in which opposition lawmakers chanted \u201cshame\u201d and then stormed out of the chamber. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-221060","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221060\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}