The visit of the American Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken to Israel and the criticism of the American administration regarding the planned reform of the judicial system, were enough to provoke a range of reactions among the heads of the political establishment. Meanwhile, Barak Ravid spoke this morning (Tuesday) with Anat Davidov on 103FM and voiced his opinion regarding the course of events and the consequences that may arise as a result of the review.
Blinken’s words proved that American opposition to the reform turned into public pressure on Netanyahu
Ravid began by referring to Blinken’s meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu last night and the criticism he heard in his ears: “I was not surprised at all, anyone who was surprised either has a hearing problem or has his head stuck deep in the sand. Already in the last two or three weeks it is clear that the Biden administration has fallen off the fence and is very clearly opposed to the plan of government to weaken the Supreme Court and other democratic institutions in Israel.”
“What we saw yesterday is another step in this resistance. Apparently the administration saw that the message was not received and therefore it was decided that when Blinken is here the message will be delivered in front of the cameras,” Ravid added.
Regarding the possibility that the review will succeed in influencing the course of the reform, he said: “A few years ago, when Barack Obama was the president of the United States, Obama presented principles for solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A few days later, Netanyahu arrives at the White House, and in front of the cameras gives Obama a history lesson on the conflict. Yesterday, Blinken did exactly the same thing to Netanyahu. He came to his office, stood with him in front of the cameras and gave him a live lesson in citizenship on the essence of democracy,” he claimed.
He also added: “In Lincoln, he went through, section by section, all the democtic principles that the government’s plan to weaken the judicial system could harm. At the end, he added that proposals for new programs should be passed with as broad a consensus as possible. In my opinion, at least as of now, there is no real disagreement between Israel and the US on the issue the Iranian Blinken was asked before he visited Israel if he was worried about an Iranian attack and in response he simply listed all of Iran’s crimes, that was his answer. This illustrates more than anything how close Israel and the US are today on the Iranian issue.” Ravid concluded.
Assisted in the preparation of the article: Shani Romano, 103FM