Category: Israel

TEL AVIV ((JEWISH REVIEW)) — The Israeli Supreme Court has announced that it will hear petitions challenging a new law that limits its ability to strike down government decisions. The challenges won’t have their day in court until September, but the announcement paves the way for a possible constitutional crisis in Israel. That’s a scenario […]

((JEWISH REVIEW)) — The image started circulating almost as soon as the Israeli government finished voting to approve a divisive piece of legislation this week. “Shisha B’Av,” it said in white Hebrew letters against a black background – Hebrew for the Sixth of Av. That was the Hebrew date on Monday, when right-wing lawmakers signed off […]

((JEWISH REVIEW)) — A major highway was blocked until 1 a.m., protesters were hosed down and arrested, Israelis woke up to see their newspapers shrouded in black, doctors are on strike and the shekel lost value — all in response to the Knesset’s vote to weaken Israel’s Supreme Court. The legislation passed by Israel’s right-wing […]

WASHINGTON ((JEWISH REVIEW)) — For months earlier this year, mainstream American Jewish groups waffled on how much to weigh in on Israel’s internal political debates, something many had studiously avoided in the past. But that felt like a distant memory on Monday after Israel’s parliament approved a law that its authors and critics — including […]

JERUSALEM ((JEWISH REVIEW)) — Standing next to a patch of sidewalk filled with the names of fallen Israeli soldiers, Ayelet Bargur embraced a friend and, pointing to a stack of poster paper, asked her if she’d like to add the name of a relative who was killed in service. The rectangular posters bearing the soldiers’ […]

JERUSALEM ((JEWISH REVIEW)) — Israel’s government has passed a law restricting the Supreme Court’s ability to strike down laws, the first piece of a proposed overhaul of the country’s judiciary that has led to massive street protests and a growing movement of civil disobedience. The vote, which was boycotted by the opposition in Israel’s parliament, […]

TEL AVIV ((JEWISH REVIEW)) — In the coming days, Israel’s parliament is due to vote on a measure that, advocates on both sides say, will determine the country’s fate — or whether it can even survive. It isn’t a peace deal or an attempt to unseat Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. What it will do, […]

((JEWISH REVIEW)) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a pacemaker installed Sunday morning, amid growing civil strife over his coalition’s effort to weaken the country’s judiciary. The surgery came a week after Netanyahu, 73, was briefly hospitalized for what he said was dehydration, and was given a heart monitor. His powers transferred to Justice […]

(New York Jewish Week) — On New York’s Upper East Side, a crowd of a few dozen holding Israeli flags chanted “de-mo-cra-tia,” the Hebrew word for “democracy.” Some held signs playing on the 1982 song by Ehud Manor “I Have No Other Country” that has become a theme song of their movement. One sign read, […]

TEL AVIV ((JEWISH REVIEW)) — In a primetime address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to press on with his government’s effort to weaken Israel’s judiciary, accusing some of the legislation’s opponents of “endangering democracy.” The nearly 10-minute televised speech came as Netanyahu’s coalition is pushing through a measure that will strip the Supreme Court […]