Status of Israel’s Judicial Overhaul, January 2026
Three years after the Israeli government began the process to overhaul the judiciary, and after two years of war delayed efforts, the drive to rein in judicial independence continues.
Aharon Barak, December 2025: Israeli Democracy Depends on Judicial Independence
Former Supreme Court President Aharon Barak makes the case against the Netanyahu government’s efforts to overhaul the judiciary, arguing that Israeli democracy requires judicial independence and protection for minority rights.
Israeli Supreme Court President Defends Judiciary Against Intentional Disruption (With Justice Minister’s Response), December 2025 CIE+ members only
Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit warns about the danger to the Israeli public and democracy of sustained political attacks on the judiciary and individual judges.
Domestic Discord — Haredim in the Military and Proposed Judicial Overhaul CIE+ members only
Two major discordant issues that vexed Israel before October 7, 2023, continue to cleave Israeli society: a possible exemption from mandatory military service for the Haredim and the Netanyahu government’s persistent effort to wrench from…
Amichai Magen, ‘Israel’s Summer of Discontent,’ Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs CIE+ members only
The summer of 2023 left Israeli society more divided than ever, with the direction of the Jewish state an unknown.
Yedidia Stern, The Radicalization of Israel’s Center CIE+ members only
Dr. Yedidia Stern, President, Jewish People’s Policy Institute July 28, 2023 (By posting a guest’s views, CIE does not take a position on the contents, nor verify facts nor the assumptions presented.) Israel’s political center…
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the nation on the passing of the ‘reasonableness standard.’ CIE+ members only
The Prime Minister presented the view that his coalition carried out a necessary step to ‘restore a measure of balance’ between governmental institutions. He indicated that discussions about the other elements of the proposed judicial overhaul would take place between now and November. Specifically he asked members of the Israel Defense Forces to remain outside of the current political controversies.
Protests, Civic Action and Israel’s Proposed Judicial Overhaul (video, 26:47) CIE+ members only
July 24, 2023 Speaking within hours of the passage of legislation upending the reasonableness standard used by the Israeli Supreme Court to review laws, Hadassah Academic College Professor Doron Shultziner explains features of the protest and counterprotest movements active…
Israeli Civil Society Reactions to Judicial Overhaul Suggestions (46:27) CIE+ members only
May 7, 2023 Firsthand Accounts of Israel’s Civil Society in Action In a 46-minute conversation recorded during the first hour of our special two-hour Israel@75 webinar and Teen Israel Leadership Institute session May 7, 2023, CIE Founding President Ken…
Reaction and Review of the Four Elements of the Planned Overhaul of Israel’s Judiciary CIE+ members only
By Ken Stein, May 1, April 4, March 22, March 5, February 11, 2023 Four months after Benjamin Netanyahu, was sworn in as Prime Minister to lead Israel’s 37th government in late December 2022, his cabinet…
Context and Consequences of Israel’s Proposed Judicial Overhaul (1:16:00) CIE+ members only
As Israel turns 75 this spring, it is in the throes of a dynamic controversy over governance. Where might this ‘crisis’ or potential ‘political earthquake’ fit into Zionism’s history, and Israel’s tomorrows still to come?
Israel’s Proposed Judicial Overhaul: Events and Published Items, January 1-March 28, 2023 CIE+ members only
A chronology and selected commentaries on the first three months of the Netanyahu government’s effort to revamp the Israeli judiciary.
Netanyahu Advocates, Then Urges Pause in Judicial Overhaul in Speeches Four Days Apart, March 2023 CIE+ members only
Prime Minister Netanyahu offers two speeches to the nation within four days, first emphatically pushing ahead with the judicial overhaul process, then calling for a pause.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s Speech on Pausing Judicial Overhaul, March 2023 CIE+ members only
Citing deep disaffection among elements of Israeli military reserve units and expressing those concerns to Prime Minister Netanyahu privately, Defense Minister Gallant makes his opinion public, causing Netanyahu to fire him, resulting in hundreds of thousand of Israelis in the streets. Two days after Gallant’s speech, Netanyahu calls for a pause in pushing forward the judicial overhaul legislation.
President Herzog’s Speech on the Judicial Overhaul’s Impact on the Country, March 2023 CIE+ members only
After his urging compromise on the proposed judicial overhaul, President Isaac Herzog, in the starkest of terms, says Israel is approaching the “abyss of a civil war” as opponents and proponents head toward a showdown. He characterizes the proposed overhaul as “wrong, oppressive, and undermines our democratic foundations.”
President Herzog’s Far-Ranging “People’s Directive” for Judicial Compromise, March 2023 CIE+ members only
President Herzog offers a compromise to the coalition’s proposed judicial overhaul in the forms of enacting a new Basic Law, and writing amendments to existing Basic Laws. Its detail suggests considerable behind the scenes discussion, and if only portions are enacted upon, this document could be seen in the future as a benchmark in Israel’s “constitutional” history.
President Isaac Herzog Appeals for Compromise on Judicial Overhaul, February 2023 CIE+ members only
In a rare address to the nation, President Herzog calls for deliberate compromise in the wake of the Netanyahu government’s proposed massive overhaul of the judicial system. The overhaul generated the largest public outpouring of opposition to a proposed government policy since Israel considered accepting German reparations in 1951-52.
18 Retired Israeli Supreme Court Judges Declare Opposition to Judicial Changes, February 2023 CIE+ members only
Amid the massive public protest of the Netanyahu government’s suggested changes to the judicial system, former Israeli Supreme Court judges join the attorney general in expressing opposition to the government proposals and call for a committee to review the judiciary and suggest a balanced plan for changes.
Attorney General Opposes Draft Revision of Basic Law: The Judiciary, February 2023 CIE+ members only
After Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara met with newly elected Justice Minister Yariv Levin about the Netanyahu government’s proposal to overhaul the judicial system, the attorney general crisply and cogently offers her opposition to that proposal.
Fritz Bauer, 1903-1968 CIE+ members only
Bauer was a German Jewish judge and prosecutor before and after World War II. He was arrested by the Nazis in 1933, lived in Denmark from 1936 to 1943, then escaped to neutral Sweden. He…
Esther Hayut, 1953- CIE+ members only
Hayut is the Israeli Supreme Court’s president, a post she is due to hold until October 2023. The Jerusalem Post says she could be Israel’s most influential chief justice since Aharon Barak by reasserting the…
Aharon Barak, 1936- CIE+ members only
Lithuania-born Barak was a 28-year Supreme Court justice who served as the president of the court from 1995 to 2006. He lifted restrictions on individual petitions to the court and strengthened the judiciary’s authority to…
Dorit Beinisch, 1942- CIE+ members only
Beinisch became the first female president of the Supreme Court in 2006 after serving over 10 years as a justice. She also was the first woman to serve as state attorney, the highest nonpolitical role…
Miriam Ben-Porat, 1918-2012 CIE+ members only
A native of Belarus who grew up in Lithuania and made aliyah in 1936, Ben-Porat in 1977 became the first woman appointed to the Israeli Supreme Court and the first to serve on the highest…
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