Bibi’s big mistake

As 100,000 Israelis gathered outside Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, on Monday, to protest against Binyamin Netanyahu’s government’s plans to pass a series of laws dramatically weakening the power of the Supreme Court, the first speaker was Netanyahu himself. 

Actually, it was a recording from an interview he had given in 2012, where he said that ‘without a strong and independent Supreme Court there can be no protection of rights. It’s what makes the difference between dictatorships and democracies’. The crowd jeered. There had been fear of violence at the demonstration. Police set up barricades, but there was no real need for them. The mood was surprisingly upbeat for a demonstration which claimed the end of Israeli democracy was nigh.

That’s because the protestors felt they were winning. It wasn’t just the success in mobilising such a large number of people to Jerusalem on a weekday. It was also the surveys showing that a majority of Israelis oppose the government’s plans. Above all, it was the belief, privately shared by many in government, that the ‘legal reform’ plans, presented on 29 December, were rushed.

The perceived threat to liberal democracy has caused Israel’s normally non-political business community, especially the hi-tech companies and investors, to come out on the side of the protestors. International investment banks and credit rating agencies have begun to pay attention, as has the US government. The plan looks like a rare unforced error by an old grandmaster.

Among those who have worked with Netanyahu over the years, there’s surprise at how matters are turning out. A senior civil servant in economic affairs has said: ‘I just can’t work it out. He’s the most financially literate politician I’ve ever advised… He would never do anything to harm Israel’s prosperity, he’s much too risk averse.