Harvard Law School professor emeritus and former attorney for Donald Trump, Alan Dershowitz, on Sunday said he would have joined left-wing protests against the new Benjamin Netanyahu-led government the previous evening, because its recently-announced judicial reforms posed a threat to “civil liberties” and “minority rights.”
The planned reforms, which were announced last week by new Justice Minister Yariv Levin, sparked a wave of debate, with advocates, including conservative radio host Mark Levin, hailing them for upholding democracy, while naysayers are claiming the exact opposite.
The reforms include a four-step plan to overhaul Israel’s legal system that would see more political control over its left-wing judiciary.
As the anti-government protests were taking place in Tel Aviv, former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak appeared on three major television networks warning against the reforms, even going as far as to say he’d “go in front of a firing squad” if it meant stopping Netanyahu and his allies.
The protests were led by Opposition members and erstwhile Netanyahu allies, former prime minister Yair Lapid and former justice minister, both of whom themselves called for judicial reform when they were in government with Netanyahu.
Netanyahu on Sunday pushed back against the criticism, saying the claim the reform is the end of democracy is “baseless.”
“The last word needs to be that of the Knesset because the Knesset represents the people,” he said, repeating a claim made by Sa’ar in 2014.
While Dershowitz, who is a friend of Barak’s, conceded “Israel’s democracy is not in danger,” the reforms still posed a threat to “civil liberties” and “minority rights.”
“Indeed, the reforms are designed to improve democracy: majority rule. What’s in danger are civil liberties, minority rights,” he told Army Radio.
“There’s a direct conflict between pure democracy, where the Knesset rules because it represents the majority of people, and the rights of minorities and civil rights, which the [High Court of Justice] of Israel is designed to protect,” he said.
He added it would become “much harder” to defend Israel in the international arena if the reforms are enacted.
Legal expert Eugene Kontorovich, who has advocated for judicial reform in Israel for a decade, was among those who disagreed vehemently with Dershowitz’s assessment.
“Professor Dershowitz is wrong about the impact of Israel’s proposed judicial reforms on international investigations,”
Kontorovich said.
“Israel’s assertive judiciary did not stop the International Court of Justice from condemning it in a 2004 decision. The supposed international respect for the Supreme Court has done nothing to stop the International Criminal Court from illegally and absurdly recognizing a ‘State of Palestine/ in all of the West Bank [Judea and Samaria], including in Jerusalem.
“Nothing short of unilateral, complete Israeli withdraw from all these territories would ward off further hostile action from these hostile, politicized bodies,” he said.
“It is sad that Dershowitz is choosing to weaponize these biased bodies to promote one side in a domestic Israeli legal argument.”
Radio show host Mark Levin came out against Barak for being responsible for Israel’s “judicial tyranny.”
“Barak is the Justice who effectively created judicial tyranny in Israel. Current reform efforts to bring Israel’s democracy back into balance is in response to his years of judicial abuse,” he tweeted.