Aiming his own benefit, Netanyahu goes after Israeli democracy

Israel's new foreign policy tends to be less critical of Russia. This is the position released by Minister of Foreign Affairs Eli Cohen. To be more precise, Cohen said that certainly the new government should say less on the subject, which includes reducing criticism of Vladimir Putin's war, a position somewhat different from that maintained by the previous brief coalition led by Naftali Bennett and later by Yair Lapid. Perhaps Netanyahu's directive was constructed from a more pragmatic view of the interests of Israeli action in Syria in order to contain Iran. It is always important to remember that strikes on Iranian targets that remain in the country are coordinated with Russia, in order to prevent crossing the thin line of targeting Russian positions in Syria. This is the relatively obvious and familiar view of the relationship between Israel and Russia. But now, with Netanyahu back in power, this closeness may meet other expectations as well.

In my last text I dealt with the Israeli Prime Minister's alliance with some of the main symbols of the extreme right in the country, cases of those now elevated to ministers Itamar Ben Gvir (National Security) and Bezalel Smotrich (Finance). Bibi is an experienced right-wing but not far-right politician. Which means in practice that he values, for example, participation in international forums and building alliances with external partners. A shift to the extreme right means the possibility of increasing the country's isolation, including from a more progressive perspective in the US, now led by a Democratic president.

And perhaps this is the key to understand Bibi's current plans. That's why I wrote in my most recent text that the US can be considered, in a way, executioner and savior at the same time. That's because Bibi managed to return with difficulty to the position. Even after the election results presented a relatively simple scenario for the process of forming the new government, the negotiations between the parties elected to the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, and Netanyahu were extended until the last possible moment. There were even those who bet that, despite the fact that the number of 64 member of parliament on the coalition boat gives an easy and somehow calm margin of majority (there are 120 seats in parliament), there would be no agreement. There was agreement. And now, a week into the new government's inauguration, we begin to understand those deals and why Netanyahu rushed to deliver what he could to his most radical allies ever.

Netanyahu not only wants the position because he considers that there is no other Israeli capable of exercising it, as I wrote in my last text. He needs the job. And for that he is capable of anything, including putting Israeli democracy at risk.

The prime minister remains on trial in three criminal cases. He denies that he has committed any wrongdoing. And it is not new that he maintains that there is persecution on the part of the Prosecutor's Office, the Supreme Court and the press (this is a classic scenario of extreme right-wing leaders, by the way).

Justice Minister Yariv Levin, a member of Likud, Netanyahu's party, presented a proposal to reform the judiciary. The main goal of the changes is to limit the Supreme Court's ability to act, in particular to prevent it from deliberating and making decisions on the Basic Laws of Israel. An important note: Israel does not have a Constitution. The set of 13 Basic Laws form a kind of Constitution, that is, some of the rules that deal with fundamental "concepts" of the country.

Netanyahu's reform, for which Justice Minister Levin is the spokesperson, has the capacity to change the internal system of balance of forces, the so-called checks and balances. Israeli democracy is simpler than Brazil's, for example. There are not two chambers of Congress and the Basic Laws do not have the complexity or even the force of the Constitution. In this way, the Supreme Court is the last guarantee to prevent a majority coalition in the Knesset from deciding to take authoritarian measures or commit excesses. The reform of the judiciary will allow the majority of Netanyahu's 64-member coalition to do as they please, including deliberating on the Basic Laws themselves.

It is also clearly an attempt by the Prime Minister to avoid conviction in the three cases in which he is investigated. Its allies are trying to find a legal way out, which here is called "French Law", that is, the granting of immunity to a prime minister while he is in office. As in Israel there is no restriction on re-elections, Bibi would be safe from justice as long as he is able to remain prime minister. Only the strength of the opposition and its ability to topple the governing coalition will be able to prevent Netanyahu from being convicted.

Bibi can now seeks to some kind closeness to Vladimir Putin not only as a model of leadership, but also to find alternatives to the government of Joe Biden. Netanyahu seems willing to do anything to stay in office for as long as possible. Even if that means hitting the very core of Israeli democracy and moving away from the country's main international ally. Internally, on the other hand, he will try to contain the more radical impulses of the members of this new government that he leads, based on the condemnations that Washington will certainly make throughout his term. Netanyahu will use America's performance to his advantage in this new role he has found for the allies in the White House: saviors and executioners. Everything depends on the taste and the intentions of the Israeli prime minister.