The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is going ahead with legislation designed to weaken the country’s Supreme Court, a move that analysts are warning could lead to an erosion of democracy and a dramatic constitutional crisis.
A parliamentary committee approved parts of the legislation on Monday in a lightning-quick process that has triggered protests around the country. Leading jurists, economists, and retired security officials have spoken out against the legislation. But Netanyahu’s coalition, made up of far-right and religious parties, is hoping to finalize the reforms in the coming weeks and months.
To understand more about the legislation and the potential impact on Israel and the region, FP’s Dan Ephron spoke to Amir Tibon, a senior editor at the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Watch the full conversation or read an edited version of the interview.
Amir Tibon explains the ways in which the judicial reforms being pushed by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government would weaken Israel’s Supreme Court.
Amir Tibon breaks down how legislation focused on the Israeli judicial system would affect the country’s economy.
Amir Tibon
Senior editor and writer, Haaretz newspaper
Amir Tibon is a senior editor and writer at the Haaretz newspaper and host of the Haaretz Weekly podcast. From 2017 to 2020, he was the paper’s correspondent in Washington, D.C., where he covered the Trump administration, Congress, and the American Jewish community. His writing on Israel and the Middle East has appeared in the New Yorker, the Atlantic, Politico Magazine, and other leading U.S. publications. He has also reported from war zones in Syria and Ukraine. Tibon currently lives with his wife and two daughters in Nahal Oz, a small community on the Israeli border with Gaza.
Host
Dan Ephron
Executive editor for podcasts, Foreign Policy
Dan Ephron is the executive editor for podcasts at Foreign Policy. Before joining FP, he spent 13 years at Newsweek, where he served as Jerusalem bureau chief, deputy Washington bureau chief, and national security correspondent. His book, Killing a King: The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin and the Remaking of Israel, won a Los Angeles Times Book Prize and was chosen by both the New York Times and Washington Post as one of 2015’s 100 notable books.
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