Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday announced a softening of his hard-right government’s judicial overhaul plan, an apparent concession to more than two months of unprecedented nationwide protests and misgivings voiced by Western allies.
Wielding a parliamentary majority, Netanyahu had looked set to ratify the package of reforms by the Knesset’s recess on April 2.
However, most would be shelved until it reconvenes on April 30, he and religious-nationalist coalition allies said.
Photo: Reuters
The legislation still slated for ratification in the next two weeks would shake up Israel’s method of selecting judges — an issue at the heart of the reform controversy, with critics saying that Netanyahu is trying to curb independence of the courts.
He insists his goal is balance among branches of government.
Yesterday’s coalition statement used more circumspect language than in the original bill introduced on Jan. 4, but said it would continue to check the power of judges on the selection panel to use what it deemed an “automatic veto” over nominations to the bench.
The statement mentioned amendments made to the bill in a Knesset review session on Sunday, whereby the selection panel would be expanded from nine to 11 members as originally planned, but in a form that grants the government less potential clout.
Previously, the bill envisaged the panel including three Cabinet ministers, two coalition lawmakers and two public figures chosen by the government — spelling a maximum 7-4 vote majority.
It is amended form, the bill envisages the panel being made up of three Cabinet ministers, three coalition lawmakers, three judges and two opposition lawmakers. That could spell a slimmer, more precarious 6-5 majority for the government.
The amended bill further stipulates that no more than two Supreme Court justices can be appointed by regular panel voting in a given Knesset session. Any appointments beyond that would have to be approved by a majority vote including at least one judge and one opposition lawmaker among selection panel members.
Netanyahu called for a rethink by the political opposition, which has pledged to boycott ratification votes in the Knesset and encouraged street demonstrations that have reached into the ranks of the Israeli military, which is usually above politics.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of