By Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, “Second Thought: a US-Israel Initiative”

Official Palestinian demographic numbers are highly-inflated, as documented by a study, which has audited the Palestinian data since 2004:

*500,000 overseas residents, who have been away for over a year, are included in the Palestinian census, contrary to international regulations. 325,000 were included in the 1997 census, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, and 400,000 in 2005, according to the Palestinian Election Commission. The number grows steadily due to births.

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President Biden and his advisers bombarded the Israeli government with warnings that the country’s image as the sole democracy in the Middle East was at stake.

By David E. Sanger, NYT

WASHINGTON — In the 48 hours before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reluctantly delayed his effort to overhaul the Israeli judiciary, his government was bombarded by warnings from the Biden administration that he was imperiling Israel’s reputation as the true democracy at the heart of the Middle East.

By Ted Belman

Daniel Greenfield who was born in Israel before moving to the US just wrote a short piece titled

Netanyahu’s Shameful Surrender to the Left.

The Left, in Israel and in the United States, bet that with enough pressure they could shut down democratic judicial reform in Israel. The weak point in the coalition government, as in every government where he has served as prime minister, is Netanyahu. The tragic truth to anyone who has been paying attention to Israeli politics long enough is that given enough pressure, he buckles, frees terrorists, freezes construction and backs off attack plans.

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T. Belman.  My daughter’s greatest concern is the override clause. She says it should require more than 61 votes.  I think such requirement would mean in practice the negation of the override. She also argues that the country is split and both sides are about equal. Therefore the selection committee should reflect that split. Thus the committee who selects them should also be split 50-50. In this regard, should the Justices or the Bar have any say in the matter?  Perhaps it should be 50-50 between the Government and the Opposition. This would produce consensus judges rather than far right or far left judges.

Influential right-wing think-tank claims only the haredi political parties want law passed.

By Ido Ben Porat, INN      Mar 28, 2023, 10:22 AM (GMT+3)

One of the most contentious components of the government’s judicial reform package is the Override Clause which would enable the government to vote down Supreme Court rulings that invalidate Knesset legislation. Long promoted by elements within the coalition as essential in order to curb the Court’s power, the Clause has passed its first reading in the Knesset but its future is now uncertain.

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Conservative pundit warns Israel’s current situation is ‘untenable,’ calls for judicial reform and compromise on policy.

Israel National News     Mar 28, 2023, 8:09 AM (GMT+3)

Ben Shapiro at CPAC Israel ConferenceCPAC Israel and TLV Intl. Salon

Conservative pundit and Daily Wire cofounder Ben Shapiro responded to Israel’s ongoing judicial overhaul crisis Monday, laying out the case for both reform and compromise in public policy.

In a series of tweets Monday night, the Orthodox Jewish commentator, who has frequently weighed in on Israeli politics, pushed back on the claim of anti-reform activists that the overhaul would gut Israeli democracy, but added that while judicial reform is necessary, the Right must compromise in terms of policy once reform has been achieved.

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T. Belman. This is devastating news for Netanyahu. He can not recover from it. The silver lining is that he has no choice but to plow ahead with judicial reform.

He was abandoned by 22% of his own party. That’s a big surprise. The question is can he prevent 4 Likud Knesset members from bolting the government.

Another big surprise was that 62% felt that Gallant’s dismissal was not justified.

National Unity Party wins 23 seats, Yesh Atid has 22. The Labor Party does not pass the electoral threshold.

Israel National News     Mar 28, 2023, 2:04 AM (GMT+3)

A day after the dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, a Channel 12 News poll published on Monday evening shows a surge for the chairman of the National Unity Party Benny Gantz, who wins 23 seats – at the expense of Likud and the Religious Zionist Party.

Likud wins 25 seats in this poll, Yesh Atid – 22, Religious Zionist Party – 12, Shas – 10, United Torah Judaism – 7, Yisrael Beynteu – 6, Hadash-Ta’al – 5, Meretz – 5, and Ra’am – 5. Overall, the pro-Netanyahu bloc wins 54 seats.

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Shortly before Netanyahu’s speech announcing the pause of the legislation, members of the government vow that the reform will be fully implemented.

By By Hezki Baruch, INN   Mar 28, 2023, 1:06 AM (GMT+3)

Members of Knesset and ministers from the coalition came on Monday evening to the huge right-wing demonstration that was held near the Knesset building, and called to continue the legislation of the judicial reform.

Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir spoke about his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he discussed the postponement of the legislation, saying, “I really don’t like it, the Prime Minister promised me that in a month, if he fails to reach a compromise, he will go back to the legislation. There is an option of dissolving the government, but I don’t I want to give the left a gift. I’m saying simply, look how many people want reform now.”

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T. Belman. Tobin’s best commentary ever.

A false narrative about Netanyahu’s “judicial coup” may achieve its goal of toppling him. But more than that, the consequences for future governments and U.S.-Israel relations are ominous.

By Jonathan Tobin

(March 27, 2023 / JNS) After months of increasingly strident mass protests against his government’s plans to reform Israel’s out-of-control and highly partisan judicial system, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have given in to the pressure. He said he was going to be “delaying judicial reform to give real dialogue a chance.” But it’s highly doubtful that this will merely be a timeout that will help his supporters regroup and enable opponents to calm down and accept a compromise on the issue.
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T. Belman. And then what?

Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir reach agreement to freeze judicial reform bills for now to allow for negotiations on the legislation.

Israel National News     Mar 27, 2023, 6:09 PM (GMT+3)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have reached an agreement that the judicial reform legislation will be frozen for the time being and brought up again during the Knesset’s summer session to allow for negotiations on the reforms, the Otzma Yehudit party announced Monday evening.

At the same time, the two agreed that as a step to keep the peace in Israeli cities, the establishment of s National Guard under the auspices of the National Security Ministry will be approved at the next cabinet meeting.

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T. Belman. This is as scary as it is true.

By David Israel, JEWISH PRESS   – March 27, 2023

Dr. Doron Matza, a former senior Shin Bet official who lectures at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies, on Monday wrote in Makor Rishon that the demonstrations on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv are just a smoke screen for the real coup on the part of the IDF, the police, the state attorney’s office, the universities, and many other components of Israel’s civil society. According to Matza, the consequences of the government’s lack of control as an executive authority over these institutions are long-term.

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Jordan: A whole country going on Silicon Valley Bank
Cash has dried up at several Jordanian banks, and customers’ money has evaporated. Jordan’s kinglet is on a desperate mission to cover this up.
The gambling addicted kinglet has robbed local banks by forcing them to lend his…

— Mudar Adnan Zahran ???????? ????? (@Mudar_Zahran) March 27, 2023

T. Belman. What could possible be gained by postponing for a couple of weeks?

‘Stopping the judicial reform would mean surrendering to violence, anarchy, and refusal within the army,’ warns Religious Zionist Party.

By Hezki Baruch, INN     Mar 27, 2023, 10:32 AM (GMT+3)

The Religious Zionist Party pushed back Monday morning on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to pause the judicial overhaul.

Netanyahu is slated to make a public address Monday morning, during which he is expected to announce a pause in the legislation of the judicial reform plan.

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REGAVIM

One of the core areas of Regavim’s activity since the movement’s founding has been the Israeli judicial system: Over the course of 17 years, we have submitted hundreds of petitions and published dozens of reports that illustrate the imbalance in our judicial system.

Our materials and analysis continue to play an important role in illustrating and explaining the need for reform – to the general public and its representatives in the Knesset and government. We congratulate Minister of Justice Yariv Levin and Chairman of the Knesset’s Constitution Committee Simcha Rothman for promoting the reform, and support their strong stance in the face of the hate-filled campaign that is threatening to thrust Israel into anarchy. Dive deeper here >>>

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Head of Noam party decries decision to halt legal reform: ‘There’s no longer any point in going out to vote.’

By Hezki Baruch, INN     Mar 27, 2023, 2:04 PM (GMT+3)

MK Avi Maoz, head of the Noam party, has expressed his staunch opposition to any plan to halt the judicial reform program. In a Knesset speech on Monday morning, he described how backing down would hand victory to the elites and turn voting into an utterly futile exercise.

“What we are about to see here is the completion of the coup d’etat whose aim is to turn democratic rule in the State of Israel, based on government by elected officials, into a dictatorship of the elites, which in a cynical use of words designed to mislead and conceal calls what it is doing ‘fundamentally democratic,'”

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Thousands of party branch heads, activists sign letter to Likud MKs insisting reforms go ahead.

By Hezki Baruch, INN      27.3.23

 Over 70 heads of Likud party branches and organizations have published their call to the ministers and Knesset members of their party, demanding that the government’s judicial reform program not be halted and that everything necessary be done to ensure that the Knesset passes the legislation included within it. 350 members of the Likud party’s Central Committee also signed the letter, along with around 2,000 party activists.

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