On Wednesday 18 January 2023 an expanded panel of the Israeli Supreme Court disqualified Benjamin Netanyahu’s top political ally Arye Dery from serving as a minister for serial corruption offences and deceiving the courts. With this ruling, the Supreme Court signalled that it was up for a fight to remain the ultimate gatekeeper of judicial oversight in Israel. By making Dery’s verdict impervious to administrative circumventions, the Court made it clear that it wouldn’t be intimidated by politicians. But their Honours got it wrong: this time Netanyahu’s coalition is here to shatter the old order of things, not just to rant about doing it. A bill to prevent judicial review of ministerial appointments by the Supreme Court is being passed by the government’s representatives in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, so Dery could be back in the Cabinet.
Whether or not this form of abrogation will be made invalid by the Supreme Court remains to be seen. The Dery case was the opening shot in the political war that has been unfolding against the judiciary ever since the inauguration of the current government. From the viewpoint of the Supreme Court, the power to define its own jurisdiction is at stake.
Just a few hours after the Dery ruling, in Jenin, about a hundred kilometres from the splendour and grandeur of the Supreme Court building in Jerusalem, Palestinian teacher and father of six Jawad Bwakna, 57, was shot dead by Israeli soldiers as he ran to assist Adham Jibareen, 28, who was also shot dead. The Israeli military prevented ambulances from assisting Bwakna. Since the beginning of 2023, at least one Palestinian has been shot dead by Israeli forces each day because of unwarranted use of force—unwarranted, but licensed. During 2022, the deadliest year since 2005, Israel escalated its military operations in the West Bank, conducting near-daily raids in cities and villages that routinely ended in the killing of civilians. Of the 171 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank in 2022, more than thirty were children and teenagers.
Read the article by Marcelo Svirsky in the very left-wing Arena magazine.