The roots of the conflict between Netanyahu and the Israeli judiciary.
The controversies in Israel’s political space these days are a repetition of Netanyahu’s series of battles with the Zionist regime’s judicial system over “maintaining power”. After the dramatic victory of the extreme right movement in the Knesset elections and the formation of the cabinet by the leader of the Likud party, Benjamin Netanyahu is now seeking to remove the last obstacle to establishing the foundations of his dictatorship in the occupied territories, which is the challenge of court cases. On this basis, the Prime Minister himself, with the help of the Minister of Justice Yario Levin, has taken an amendment bill to the Knesset for voting, according to which the majority vote of the Knesset members can nullify the judicial rulings and eliminate its executive requirement.
Right now, cases “1000”, “2000”, “3000” and “4000” are ongoing in the Israeli judicial system as “Netanyahu’s corruption” cases. These cases have remained silent only because of the unwritten agreement between the current prime minister and the judiciary, with the aim of removing the right-wing prime minister from power. In the continuation of this report, we will try to discuss the history of the conflicts between Netanyahu and the judiciary, and examine the recent conflict between the two in occupied Palestine.
Corruption cases; From “1000” to “4000”
Benjamin Netanyahu is one of the few Israeli politicians who has been able to rely on power for more than 15 years. However, the existence of open judicial cases makes him always feel the shadow of the court and being convicted of the crime of corruption over his head. In the so-called “1000” case, Netanyahu and his family are accused of receiving $300,000 in illegal gifts from foreign businessmen. These gifts are mostly in the form of precious jewelry, alcoholic beverages, and rare cigarettes at the disposal of Netanyahu and his family.
Netanyahu’s second corruption case is related to the exchange of bribes between him and Ernon Mozes, the publisher of Yedioth Aharonot newspaper. In the “2000” case, Netanyahu, in agreement with this newspaper, wants to present a more positive image of himself in the Israeli political sphere. In return, the leader of the Likud party pledges to support this newspaper against “Israel Eliom” and to stop its publication. After the start of “Israel Eliom”, Yediot Aharonot newspaper was in a very unfavorable situation and its circulation was reduced.
After the cases of “Netanyahu’s family receiving bribes from foreign businessmen” and “negotiations to paint a more positive image of the prime minister”, the third corruption case against Netanyahu (Case 3000) is related to the illegal purchase of three submarines and warships from Germany. At the time, this case caused severe criticism from politicians and representatives of the Knesset.
The “4000” case is the last page of Netanyahu’s black record in the Israeli political scene. In this case, he is accused of paying millions of dollars in financial facilities to “Shavel Elvich”, the owner of “Bezak” company, in order to create the “Walla” news site with the aim of covering news and political support for Netanyahu. It is interesting to note that the current Prime Minister of Israel has made a great contribution to attracting the support of the media and is trying to facilitate the direction of public opinion by abusing the position of the Prime Minister.
A coup against the judiciary
The existence of these open cases can be a constant threat against Netanyahu’s empire; For this reason, he intends to remove this lever from the hands of his opponents once and for all by changing the law. According to experts, the assignment of important and vital ministries to the extreme elements of the cabinet, such as Asmutarich, Ben Guer, and Darei, was aimed at facilitating the approval of the change of powers of the Israeli judiciary in the Knesset.
On the other hand, the legal system of the Israeli regime considers the Prime Minister’s plan a historical coup against the judicial system. The first countermeasure against the cabinet’s “white coup” can be seen as the ruling of the Supreme Court of the Zionist regime disqualifying Shas party leader Arieh Darei for the position of the Ministry of Interior and Health. This judicial body announced that the reason for the disqualification of Darei was his criminal convictions for accepting bribes in 1999 and attempting to evade taxes in 2022. This verdict caused Darei and the members of Shas party to find the necessary motivation to leave the cabinet and dissolve the cabinet. The publication of this verdict caused Netanyahu to personally go to Darei’s house to promise him to return to power after changing the powers of the judicial system. However, the current prime minister announced the dismissal of the minister of interior and health in an official statement due to the validity of the Supreme Prosecutor’s order.
The second counterattack of the Israeli legal system against Benjamin Netanyahu was to activate the “conflict of interest” clause. They believe that because Netanyahu has open court cases, he does not have the necessary authority to change the law and reduce the powers of the judiciary. Based on this argument, they seek to activate the option of disqualifying Netanyahu for the post of prime minister, so that if the bill to change the powers of the judicial system comes into circulation, they will have the necessary leverage to take countermeasures against the cabinet.
One of the repeated claims of the Zionist regime in the international environment is the rotation of the elites, the competitive election system, and the separation of powers in the occupied territories. Assuming the approval of the bill to change the powers of the judiciary and legislature in Israel, the legal apparatus of the Zionist regime will no longer be able to control and monitor the performance of the cabinet and the Knesset.
