‘Concerned’ Biden calls Netanyahu over plan to limit court powers

Wilmington, Delaware: US President Joe Biden has called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express “concern” over his government’s planned overhaul of the country’s judicial system that has sparked widespread protests and to encourage compromise.

The White House said Biden reiterated US concerns about the measure to roll back the judiciary’s insulation from the country’s political system, in a call a senior administration official described as “candid and constructive”. There was no immediate indication that Netanyahu was shying away from the action, after rejecting a compromise last week offered by the country’s figurehead president.

A protester asks for the US president’s help during a massive demonstration in front of the Israeli parliament on February 13. Protests have been ongoing.Credit:Getty

The hard-right government’s drive to limit Supreme Court powers while increasing its own power in selecting judges has caused alarm at home and abroad about the country’s democratic checks and balances. Anti-reform protests have swelled for weeks.

The official, who requested anonymity to discuss the leaders’ private call, said Biden had spoken to Netanyahu “as a friend of Israel in the hopes that there can be a compromise formula found”.

The White House in statement added that Biden “underscored his belief that democratic values have always been, and must remain, a hallmark of the US-Israel relationship, that democratic societies are strengthened by genuine checks and balances, and that fundamental changes should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popular support”.

“The president offered support for efforts underway to forge a compromise on proposed judicial reforms consistent with those core principles,” the statement said.

US President Joe Biden, right, has intervened in Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the judiciary. The plan has been criticised by the Israeli president, Germany, the US national security advisor and been met with weeks of protests by Israelis at home.Credit:AP

Netanyahu told Biden that Israel would “remain, a strong and vibrant democracy,” according to the prime minister’s office.

Netanyahu said earlier that the legal changes would be carried out responsibly while protecting the basic rights of all Israelis. His government – the country’s most right-wing ever – says the overhaul is meant to correct an imbalance that has given the courts too much power and prevented MPs from carrying out the voting public’s will.

Critics say it will upend a delicate system of checks and balances and slide the country towards authoritarianism. Opponents of the measure have carried out disruptive protests, and has even embroiled the country’s military, after more than 700 elite officers from the Air Force, special forces, and Mossad said they would stop volunteering for duty.

The conversation followed a meeting in Egypt between Israeli and Palestinian officials in which they pledged to take steps to lower tensions ahead of a sensitive holiday season. Administration officials praised the outcome of the meeting in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. A joint communiqué said the sides had reaffirmed a commitment to de-escalate and prevent further violence.

Biden in the call “reinforced the need for all sides to take urgent, collaborative steps to enhance security coordination, condemn all acts of terrorism, and maintain the viability of a two-state solution,” according to the White House.

The Israeli and Palestinian delegations met for the second time in less than a month, shepherded by regional allies Egypt and Jordan, as well as the United States, to end a yearlong spasm of violence.

More than 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, and more than 40 Israelis or foreigners have been killed in Palestinian attacks during that time. These include pledges to stop unilateral actions, it said. Israel pledged to stop discussion of new settlement construction for four months, and to stop plans to legalise unauthorised settlement outposts for six months.

“The two sides agreed to establish a mechanism to curb and counter violence, incitement and inflammatory states and actions,” the communiqué said. The sides would report on progress at a follow-up meeting in Egypt next month, it added.

The Biden administration remains concerned about a repeat of the nightly clashes and other violent incidents between Palestinians and Israelis in Jerusalem during Ramadan two years ago. Clashes at the Temple Mount in 2021 helped trigger an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.

Under longstanding arrangements, Jews are allowed to visit the site but not pray there. But in recent years, the number of visitors has grown, with some quietly praying. Such scenes have raised fears among Palestinians that Israel is trying to alter the status quo.

AP

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