A few weeks ago, most Israelis were unaware of the existence of the Kohelet Policy Forum. This liberal think tank is now at the heart of public debate. He is strongly criticized for having helped to inspire the overhaul of the Supreme Court wanted by the government of Binyamin Netanyahu.
Its main legal expert, Aviad Bakshi, advised the Minister of Justice, Yariv Levin, who is leading this reform and who hailed his contribution. A former forum expert, Shimon Nataf, also advises the chairman of the committee for the Constitution, law and justice, Simcha Rothman, author of the first two texts that the Knesset was to begin examining on Monday, February 20. The arguments of the forum irrigate the conservative press, the editorials of Amit Segal on the channel Hadashot 12, those of the right-wing daily Israel Hayom.
On Monday, a new demonstration was planned in Jerusalem by opponents of the reform, who have built one of the largest protest movements in the country’s history. They denounce a destruction of the Supreme Court. A “regime change”which would allow a simple majority of 61 MPs out of 120 to pass any law, without legal oversight.
“Coalition parliamentarians show no dissension. But the polarization is so great, due to the hatred against Netanyahu and his government, that the reform risks breaking Israeli society”says political scientist Avraham Diskin, a rare researcher from the left affiliated with the Kohelet Policy Forum and a supporter of reform.
A counter-revolution
Faced with this pressure, Kohelet’s deputy director, Ran Bar-Yoshafat, thinks “on the teeth”. “Two days ago, he testifies, two spectators called me a fascist after a public debate. They claimed that I hate homosexuals and women. Nothing could be less true: I am a liberal. I defend everyone’s freedom. » Mr Bar-Yoshafat regrets that a first bill arrives so quickly in the hemicycle. He would like the government to take the time to explain itself, to calm people down. He also minimizes the role of his think tank in this procedure: “Politicians consult us, but we don’t make the decisions. »
Basically, Mr. Bar-Yoshafat would not change anything. He wants the political majority in place to have the means to appoint the judges of the Supreme Court and the legal advisers of the government. He wants to limit the means of appeal to the Court by citizens and that a simple majority of parliamentarians can override their objections to their laws. It is a counter-revolution that he finally sees happening. A response to the “judicial revolution” launched in 1995 by the former President of the Court, Aharon Barak, which systematized the supervisory power of judges.
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