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JERUSALEM: The Israeli press gave a tentative, if not cold, reception to Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government on Friday, fearing changes to judicial powers as the prime minister’s ongoing corruption trial proceeds.
After winning the November 1 election, and following weeks of negotiations with ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties, Netanyahu was sworn in as prime minister on Thursday, heading the most right-wing government in Israel’s history.
Of all the ministerial appointments announced, the one receiving the most attention on Friday was the justice portfolio handed to Yariv Levin, a close friend of Netanyahu.
Yediot Aharonot, the country’s top-selling Hebrew daily, said Levin’s appointment “should frighten most” those who fear “drastic change to Israel’s system of government.”
The mooted changes to the justice system “will completely transform Israel’s character as a democratic state,” it added.
“This is why Netanyahu made all the concessions to his partners... to put Yariv Levin in the justice ministry, the man for the job. Netanyahu talks about Iran, but his thoughts are about his trial,” the newspaper said.
Earlier this month, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara warned that the new government’s legislative program threatens to turn Israel into a “democracy in name, but not in essence.”
For the freesheet Israel Hayom, the country’s most-read title and generally supportive toward Netanyahu, Lavin’s appointment is “a clear signal that the prime minister wants to move forward with changes in the judicial system.”
Among the agreements signed between Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party and its coalition partners are proposed laws authorizing businesses to refuse service to people on religious grounds, and also allowing gender segregation in public places.
In Israel, which does not have a constitution, the Supreme Court has the authority to repeal laws it considers discriminatory.
But some within the new government consider the judiciary has accumulated too much authority and seek to implement a “derogation clause,” allowing politicians to reinstate laws overturned by the courts.
Makor Rishon, a right-wing daily, sees a “fight” looming between the Supreme Court and supporters of these new parliamentary powers.
“Yariv Levin will not have 100 days of grace, barely 10,” it predicted.
“In a few days, he will have to... clarify his intentions and the government’s legislative program.”
In recent days, lawmakers hastily passed legislation watering down standards required to hold ministerial office — allowing people convicted of crimes, but not sentenced to prison, to serve as ministers.
The move paved the way for the leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, Aryeh Deri, a long-time Netanyahu ally who was convicted of tax evasion earlier this year, to be appointed to cabinet.
The introduction of a derogation clause would allow lawmakers to maintain the controversial law even if the Supreme Court were to overturn it.
Analysts say such a clause would also allow lawmakers to uphold any annulment of the corruption charges against Netanyahu, should parliament vote to absolve the prime minister and the Supreme Court then rule against it.
For the left-wing Haaretz newspaper, Justice Minister Levin’s mandate is clear: “destroy the rule of law and its institutions, and with them, the entire system” by allowing parliament to “override” the judiciary.
“Fighting a government like this one, which is emptying democracy of all its values, isn’t sedition... it’s a duty incumbent on both the opposition and civil society. This is their great time of trial,” Haaretz said in an editorial.