Stropnický’s successor in Israel about hundreds of thousands of demonstrations. Is the country safe?

2023-08-01 15:26:00

Israel is experiencing great unrest. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to protest the approval of a controversial judicial reform involving the Supreme Court. Although, according to Czech Ambassador-designate Veronika Kuchyňová Šmigolová, there is majority agreement in Israel on the need for reform, the ongoing protests show the inability of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to agree with the opposition on its wording. “It’s certainly chaos in Israel, but it’s not a civil war, it’s by no means the end of democracy,” Kuchyňová Šmigolová described in the Epicenter. “The Supreme Court gradually acquired more and more powers in the last, let’s say, 30, 35 years, so it reached a situation where the Israeli court, at the initiative of anyone, could decide on the validity of laws, on the validity of voting, on whether someone can be minister or cannot etc.’ According to Kuchyňová Šmigolová, the situation is exaggerated, most Israelis agree with the need for some kind of reform.

“In Israel a few decades ago, it happened that the majority in the committee that appoints new members of the Supreme Court was held by the highest judges themselves. That means, if we take it to the extreme, the judges will appoint their successors,” Kuchyňová Šmigolová described. The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, thus faces the difficult task of coming to an agreement with the opposition for a long time. “With his strong-arm approach, he was able to essentially pit most of the other, now opposition, representatives, who are largely originally Likud representatives, who themselves formed their own new parties,” she added. Likud is the largest coalition party, Benjamin Netanyahu has been its chairman for almost 18 years.

Is Israel safe?

Despite hundreds of thousands of protests, according to ambassador-designate Veronika Kuchyňová Šmigolová, the country is safe. “I believe that Israel is a safe country for tourists. (…) Those protests usually take place on Saturdays, when it is a day off in Israel, and they take place on the main streets,” assesses the situation Kuchyňová Šmigolová. She pointed out that the only thing that needs to be taken care of are the flights back to the homeland. According to her, protests often take place precisely in the form of blocking the road to the airport. He recommends staying away from large gatherings and going to the airport early, or going to the airport by train.

Veronika Kuchyňová Šmigolová will join the embassy in Tel Aviv on September 4. He will thus replace the former actor and diplomat Martin Stropnický (ANO 2011).