'An argument among Zionists': Reactions pour in on Israeli judicial overhaul

Reactions continued to pour in over Monday's vote in the Israeli Knesset that capped the supreme court's power over government decisions, including ministerial appointments.  

On Monday, the Knesset approved the proposed amendment to Basic Law, known as the reasonableness standard bill. 

Palestinians continued to view the duel between the opponents of the judiciary changes and the ruling coalition as an argument between two factions of hard-core zionists, both sharing a common goal: maintaining the occupation and preferential treatment of Jewish residents over non-Jewish residents. 

Rafat Sublaban al-Khalili, whose parents were evicted by Israeli settlers from their home in the Old City in occupied East Jerusalem earlier this month, told The New Arab, "Only a small portion of Israelis have real credibility in my opinion." 

"Those who came outside our home to protest the eviction and go weekly to protest in Sheikh Jarrah. They're anti-Zionists; I welcome them", he said.

"The rest demand the continuation of the status quo and the continuation of oppression", he added. 

Rafat works at the UN Human Rights office in Ramallah. He strongly believes in "unifying all the voices" critical of Israel's occupation and human rights abuses.

"The way I see it, their voice is very important, and we need to unite all of our voices together", he said. 

The 34-year-old human rights defender cited Jewish Voice for Peace and CODE PINK as two non-Zionist organisations calling out Israel's violations in the occupied Palestinian territories. 

Meanwhile, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel (MQG) and the Israel Bar Association filed petitions against the law pushed by Israeli prime minister Netanyahu's far-right coalition. 

The petition by the MQG was submitted to the supreme court shortly after the 64-member ruling coalition approved it in the second and third readings. 

It's unclear how soon the petitions will be reviewed or decided. Still, the supreme court president and other senior justices reportedly cut short an official trip abroad to address the matter. 

In its petition, MQG argued that the amendment to the law provides complete power to the executive authority and therefore is unconstitutional. 

 "It fundamentally changes the basic structure of Israeli parliamentary democracy and the nature of the regime while de facto abolishing the judiciary and seriously damaging the delicate fabric of the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances in the State of Israel," it said. 

Reacting against the adopted amendment, Israel's medical system went partially on strike on Tuesday. The Israel Medical Association ordered doctors to strike, citing the removal of the Supreme Court's ability to overrule, based on "unreasonableness," potential government involvement in decisions by Health Ministry staff.

It said the 24-hour strike would not apply in Jerusalem, the scene of escalating confrontations. The government was seeking an injunction compelling doctors to return to work.

At the same time, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert warned of a "serious threat" of slipping into a "civil war" that would jeopardise the stability of the state and hamper the government's ability to perform. 

The former premier and Likud leader added that the current government is "perceived by a large part of the population as illegitimate". 

Faced with foreign investor flight, a weakening shekel and a threatened general strike by the Histadrut public sector union, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told Army Radio: "The attempted casting of this as the end of democracy is simply false."

He brushed off opposition charges that Netanyahu, freed of Supreme Court intervention, would now fire an attorney-general described by some ministers as against the reforms.

The military, Smotrich added, "is combat-ready and will remain combat-ready" despite the protesting reservists, whom he accused of trying to "put a gun to the head of the government".

Additionally, opponents of the judicial reforms pushed advertisements on Tuesday's front pages of three of the country's top newspapers. 

"A black day for Israeli democracy," read the blackened front pages of the widely read newspapers.