Tangle - The protests in Israel.

Episode Date: March 28, 2023

On Monday, weeks of protests in Israel hit a fever pitch as hundreds of thousands of residents took to the streets in Tel Aviv immediately after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defense minister for opposing his proposed judicial reforms.You can read today's podcast here, today’s “Under the Radar” story here (paywall) and today’s “Have a nice day” story here. Today’s clickables: Quick Hits (0:53), Today’s Story (2:41), Left’s Take (6:53),Right’s Take (10:12), Isaac’s Take (14:07), Your Questions Answered (18:26), Under the Radar (20:34), Numbers (21:23), Have A Nice Day (22:22)You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here.Our podcast is written by Isaac Saul and edited by Zosha Warpeha. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.Our newsletter is edited by Bailey Saul, Sean Brady, Ari Weitzman, and produced in conjunction with Tangle’s social media manager Magdalena Bokowa, who also created our logo.--- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tanglenews/message Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, which is Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages six months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at flucellvax.ca.

From executive producer Isaac Saul, this is Tangle. Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening, and welcome to the Tangle podcast, a place we get views from across the political spectrum, some independent thinking without all that hysterical nonsense you find everywhere else. I'm your host, Isaac Saul, and on today's episode, we're going to be talking about Israel, the protests there, and the judicial reforms that are taking place or being pursued by the Benjamin Netanyahu government. As always, though, before we jump in, we'll start off today with some quick hits.

First up, Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Democrat from Massachusetts, announced her plans to seek a third term as senator in 2024. Number two, six people were killed, including three children, in a shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee. The 28-year-old suspect was a former student at the school. Number three, Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, the Democrat from Texas, said she will run for mayor of Houston. Number four, Philadelphia residents, that's me, may be asked to avoid drinking tap water after a spill of latex emulsion into the Delaware River. Number five, a fire at a migrant center in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on the U.S. border killed at least 39 people.

Growing turmoil in Israel, fiery protests erupting in the streets tonight. This comes just hours after embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed his defense minister. That cabinet member said he would not support Netanyahu's attempts to take power from the judiciary. Netanyahu removing Yoav Galant, a member of his own Likud party, after Galant called for a pause in the government's controversial plan to weaken Israel's judiciary,

essentially stripping its power to have final say on Israel's laws. Violence on the streets of Tel Aviv. Hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bowed to intense public pressure by announcing his plans to overhaul the judiciary would be paused. But as protesters for and against the reforms clash bitterly with each other, it was clear the divide within Israeli society remains deep and more dangerous than ever. On Monday, weeks of protests in Israel hit a fever pitch as hundreds of thousands of residents took to the streets in Tel Aviv immediately after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defense minister for opposing his proposed judicial reforms. A quick bit of history here. Like the United States, Israel has

three branches of government, the executive, legislative, and judicial branch. Unlike the United States, Israel is a parliamentary democracy, in which Israeli citizens vote for party lists instead of individual members to compromise the Knesset, the country's legislative body. The largely ceremonial Israeli president then consults party leaders and picks a prime minister to form a coalition government. Netanyahu is the longest- longest serving prime minister in Israeli history, having logged more than 15 years total as leader. But in order to return to office for his sixth term last year, Netanyahu had to rely on a new coalition, one that included more far-right

members and the orthodox religious wing of the Knesset. Given that he was already facing corruption charges, his return to power was contentious and divisive from the start, and this new coalition only amplified the issues. There is no constitution in Israel, but instead a set of regulations known as basic laws. The Supreme Court can strike down legislation if it believes it violates this basic law. Key members of Netanyahu's governing coalition made reforming the country's Supreme Court part of the deal for backing Netanyahu. Currently, the court is selected by a panel of three current Supreme Court justices, two lawyers, and four legislators or members of the government.

The initial proposal from the coalition government would empower a simple majority in the Knesset to reject the panel's appointments and would give members of the Knesset more seats on the committee, effectively giving it a majority and picking judges. Proposed reforms would also allow a simple majority in the Knesset to reject the court's decisions. Right-wing criticism of the court is not new. Conservatives have argued since the 1990s that the court has dramatically expanded the kinds of issues it could rule on and regularly stops the Knesset from passing new laws supported by the conservative majority in Israel. Netanyahu, who was barred from involvement in the court reform initiative because of his pending corruption

charges, argues it will better balance and diversify the judicial branch. Many moderates and left-wing protesters in Israel have hit the streets in protest, though, saying that the reforms would remove the only viable check and balance on the Israeli government. Over the weekend, Netanyahu's defense minister, Yoav Galant, who had been an ally of the prime ministers, came out against the judicial overhaul. Galant said the protests were impacting military preparedness. Netanyahu responded by firing him, which set off a massive mobilization of as many as 600,000 protesters. The nation's largest union asked its workers to strike, grinding the country to a halt. Some airports closed, city streets were overrun with protesters, and military reservists

even stopped showing up for assignments. In Washington, D.C., Israel's embassy announced it would be closed until further notice. Startling images of the protests went viral across social media. On Monday, Netanyahu responded by delaying the judicial overhaul proposal until the parliament returns to session after Passover, saying it was a chance to avoid civil war. The move leaves open the possibility of the overhaul, but has calmed the protests temporarily. Today, we're going to examine the proposed reforms and the protests with views from the Israeli and American First up, we'll start with what the left is saying. The left is harshly critical of the reform, saying they threaten Israel's democracy. Some argue Netanyahu has proved himself unfit for office. Others say the reforms are part of a radical, long-term strategy by this government

to attack the rule of law and infringe on Palestinian rights. In Haaretz, the editorial board said Netanyahu is unfit for office. Netanyahu fired Yoav Galant because he did the right thing, the board said. To protect the army from falling apart, Galant said it was necessary to halt the destructive legislation that would upend our system of government. He thereby acted in a responsible, statesman-like fashion, but he violated the mafia code of Netanyahu's diehard fans. The price was immediate and cruel. It's particularly worrisome evidence that Netanyahu's judgment has completely deserted him. The board also urged readers to keep up the pressure until Netanyahu scraps the coup. What's threatening Israel is the trial

of Netanyahu and the defendant's attempts to bend the law to his needs and to control the appointment of judges at all costs. Experience shows Netanyahu will resort to manipulation, lies, and scheming, and opposition leaders need to tread carefully in their negotiations. They should work under the assumption that Netanyahu's plan is to suppress the protest and that the call to talk could emerge as an attempt to kill the protest momentum. In Vox, Jonathan Geyer said the judicial overhaul isn't the only crisis in Israel. Netanyahu was elected with the most extreme, nationalistic, and exclusionary government in Israeli history. The several bills put forward would restrict the court's ability to overturn law as it sees as unconstitutional and allow a simple majority in the Knesset to reject its decisions.

It would also give government lawmakers and appointees effective power over the committee of nine individuals that appoint judges and rescind key authorities from the Attorney General. The result would be majoritarian rule where minority groups like Palestinians would face serious threats. Many former Israeli leaders warned of fascism. This is only one component of the government's attack on the rule of law. It is also proposing radical changes to the way the occupation of the West Bank is administered and other legal shifts inside Israel that will severely affect Palestinians, including the transfer of military authority over the occupied West Bank to the hands of civilian government. In the Los Angeles Times, Yossi Klein-Halevi wrote about the fall of Netanyahu. He may not realize it yet,

but Netanyahu's coalition of ultra-nationalists, religious fundamentalists, and the merely corrupt is losing its moral legitimacy, even among growing numbers of its voters, Halavi said. The fatal mistake was firing Yoav Galant, who opposed legislation that would erode the independence of Israel's Supreme Court and destroy the nation's fragile system of checks and balances. Galant warned about security, noting the deepening rift within the army over the plan. By firing Galant, Netanyahu placed loyalty to himself above loyalty to the country. The man who'd convinced Israelis that only he was tough and shrewd enough to keep Israel safe in the Middle East has betrayed Israeli security. Meanwhile, members of Netanyahu's

Likud party declared their support for suspending his judicial legislation and negotiating with the opposition on reform instead. There is no more patriotic protest movement anywhere than the one for Israeli democracy, which is led by the country's toughest combat units and whose symbol is the Israeli flag. All right, that is it for what the left is saying, which brings us to what the right is saying. Many on the right support judicial reforms and argue that the reaction is overblown. Many argue Netanyahu is fundamentally right about the court being radicalized and having too much latitude. Others argue the best course of action is restricting the kinds of cases the court can rule on. In Israel Hayom, Jerome Marcus said Israeli citizens have a right to govern themselves.

The court has long been criticized because it imposes rules on the country that most of the country thinks are wrong. It's odd to see this predicament defended in the streets as democracy. The way for Israel to be respected by the world is to respect itself. That also means respecting the judgment of its citizens and their right to govern themselves. Insistence on broad powers for Israel's Supreme Court is based on the conviction that Israeli voters don't have the right to govern themselves because if they did, they would make the wrong decisions. Perhaps citizens would decide to be too harsh to Arabs who hurt or threaten Jews, or make

the country too religious, or make the country too religious, or be inadequately respectful of reform and conservative Judaism. Maybe they would give too much money to the Haredim. Since these things are quote-unquote bad, Israel's voters can't be allowed to choose them. If 15 justices on the Supreme Court can stop these things, they must be empowered by citizens to do so. No other country in the world In Spectator, John Pietro said Israel is not on the verge of authoritarianism. Rather, the Israeli Supreme Court is one of the most activist courts in the world and has assigned itself more authority and subverted the balance of power between Israel's different branches of government, all without accountability to the electorate. Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown.

When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. The flu remains a serious disease. Last season, over 102,000 influenza cases have been reported across Canada, which is nearly double the historic average of 52,000 cases. What can you do this flu season? Talk to your pharmacist or doctor about getting a flu shot. Consider FluCellVax Quad and help protect yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada

for ages six months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur, and 100% protection is not guaranteed. Learn more at flucellvax.ca. Without a constitution, there is no higher legal authority against which to judge the validity of laws

and in theory gave the government parliamentary supremacy. But that has been usurped by the judiciary. The constitutional revolution was spearheaded by Supreme Court President Aaron Barak in the 1990s, who ushered in an extreme understanding of the reasonableness doctrine, whereby the court could strike down administrative actions that it deemed unreasonable. This includes if the action is fully complying with all legal requirements and resting on uncontested statutory authorization,

and the court went further, effectively claiming jurisdiction over everything. Nothing in either the public or private sphere was beyond the scope of the court. The Wall Street Journal editorial board said Israel needs judicial reform, but how? Israeli democracy isn't dying, the board said. Even if the reforms were to abolish judicial review of legislation leaving the Knesset supreme, this would drag Israel all the way back to 1995. It was a democracy then, and no aberration. A sovereign parliament is the norm in parliamentary democracies that lack a written constitution for courts to enforce. There was no consensus for the judicial revolution in which the high court made itself the final arbiter on all things beginning in the 1980s.

The court has reviewed cabinet appointments, budget allocations, combat decisions, and even whether the prime minister is unfit for office. It also empowers the attorney general, a civil servant, to pre-veto government policies with legally binding opinions, the board said. Most of the reforms are sensible, including removing the court's power over selection of new justices. The clause allowing a Knesset majority to override the court isn't a problem because it's giving elected representatives the last word on most matters of law, but because it's a recipe for unending and

corrosive constitutional conflict. The government should restore the standard restrictions on which cases the court will hear, then let the court rule within its areas of competency. All right, that is it for what the left and the right are saying, which brings us to my take. So the hardest part about this story for American readers and listeners is letting go of our understanding of our courts and our government and how it works. Israel is not the United States, and its democracy functions differently. So viewing this crisis solely through that lens creates all sorts of problems. Of course, if a U.S. president were to remove the court's ability to strike down his legislation, that would be a massive crisis. Yet, that isn't really what is happening here. There is no empowered president, no Congress,

no constitutional authority, and no real limit on this current court. The U.S. system can still offer some useful context, but it's not at all analogous. So let me start by tallying some points for Team Netanyahu. First, I think Netanyahu's corruption trial is mostly a distraction here. It's a nice partisan talking point, and he's probably guilty, but I don't think this is about self-protection. It was his Knesset allies who made judicial reform critical to holding this coalition together, and it was those allies, not Netanyahu, who have made the major push in recent weeks. This is a long-standing right-wing priority, far predating the corruption trial. More importantly for their side, I also think it's true the Supreme Court in Israel needs reforming. It's not just that the court is

chosen by unelected members who are largely picking other like-minded folks and watering down its ideological diversity, shifting the balance to the left. It's also that the court is chosen by unelected members who are largely picking other like-minded folks and watering down its ideological diversity, shifting the balance to the left. It's also that the court is intervening in matters of Israeli society that are far more expansive than should be acceptable, with no binding constitution or set of detailed codified laws beyond the extraordinarily vague basic laws to work from. The court heard 9,000 cases in 2022, compared to, say, the 180 heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. Pretty much anyone can bring a case to the court, and as the Wall Street Journal editorial board noted under what the right is saying,

the boundaries of its decisions are expansive. Want to remove a cabinet member? The court might hear it. How about a combat decision or the fitness of the prime minister? Changing the system for picking judges to something that more resembles the United States, where elected members get a weighty say, is not a radical idea worthy of nationwide protest. As Ruthie Blum wrote, protesters are more likely unified in their anger toward Netanyahu than judicial reforms. Yet, other elements of the proposal are that radical, including, most obviously, changes that would allow the Knesset to strike down decisions by the court with a majority vote. In the United States, our protection against

majoritarian rule is that the Supreme Court can review any legislation, even that passed with a supermajority, and determine if it violates the constitution. But even before it gets to the court, most big legislation must have more than a razor-thin majority. It has to pass the House, get 60 of 100 votes in the Senate, and then be signed by a president. The totality of these reforms in Israel would allow 61 of 120 people in the Knesset to essentially run rush shot over the entire country. It's ludicrous, on a basic sniff test, and it's part of the reason Netanyahu is seeing such unprecedented upheaval across the country. Opposition from the military is more complicated. Some worry that

without legitimate judicial review, Israel's military could face even more international scrutiny than it already does. But the outspoken objections from former allies, former leaders, and decorated members of the military has certainly alarmed me. They know better than I would, and many once idolized Netanyahu, so it's clear something is very wrong. Frankly, the truth of this movement is even more tenuous than the headlines. Israel just has a lot of intractable problems. It can't keep a leader. Its basic laws are nebulous. Its current prime minister is aided by its most extreme coalition ever. He's probably corrupt. Its Supreme Court regularly overreaches, and the internal strife of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is worsening by the day. whack-a-mole on one of these issues, and even if they were to do it right, that is, incrementally, it would probably mean Netanyahu loses his coalition, the current government disintegrates, a new election comes, causing all the other issues to persist or even worsen.

I don't know how to resolve that, but I do know it's a mess. All right, that is it for my take, which brings us to your questions answered. This one is from Joe in Westmont, Illinois. Joe said, tell me if this is crazy. With all the uproar surrounding the pending Trump indictment in New York, I think Biden should pardon him for Stormygate. Joe lists three reasons for the pardon. One, he says, I'm no expert, but it sounds as though it's not likely for Trump to face any serious consequences from it anyway, and there's already the Fulton County and classified document cases. Two, the main point has already been brought to the public's

attention again, which is Trump does bad things. And three, Biden could totally defang one of Trump's biggest grievances, which is, see, the Democrats are just out to get me. I understand it'll never happen, but I think it could be a smart and hilarious move strategically. So, yes, it is an out-there proposal, and it will obviously never happen because I think most Democrats would hate Biden for it, and I wholeheartedly agree with all three of your points. I'd also add a few more. Most Americans are not going to think a former president should be indicted for campaign finance violations. More serious charges against Trump still loom that should actually see their day in court, and Biden could use the pardon as a talking point if he and Trump are the nominees in 2024. I think it could be an honest act of

reaching out with an olive branch, too. Again, Biden would never do it, as I'm sure he genuinely loathes Trump and he also does not want to be viewed as interfering with a state criminal case. But it's a totally radical idea that I think is just wild enough it might work by shifting the conversation. I genuinely have no idea how Trump would react. Interestingly, you're not the only one suggesting this. In fact, there have been a few opinion pieces in the last few years, even from the hard left perspective, calling for a Trump pardon. Newsweek just published one from Ohio's former Deputy Attorney General yesterday. All right, that is it for your questions answered, which brings us to our under the radar story.

A new poll from the University of Chicago resulted in some answers that are catching the eye of social scientists and politicos. Just 1% of Americans say the nation's economy was excellent. 33% said they have little or no confidence in public schools. Meanwhile, respondents who said patriotism was important fell from 70% in 1998 to 38%. Respondents who said religion was important fell from 62% to 39%. Respondents who said community involvement was important dropped from 47% to 27%. Perhaps most alarmingly, the respondents who said tolerance of others was very important fell from 80% just four years ago to 58% today. The Wall Street Journal has the story.

It is paywalled, but there's a link to it in today's episode description. All right, next up is our numbers section. The percentage of Israeli citizens who agree that its high court should be able to strike down laws contrary to the nation's basic laws is 66%. The percentage of coalition voters, that's those who supported Netanyahu's government, who said they agreed the court should be able to strike down laws contrary to the nation's basic laws, was 44%. The percentage of Israeli citizens who agree that the current system requiring the concurrence between members of the Knesset and justices for judicial appointments is appropriate is 63%. The percentage of Israeli citizens who oppose the proposal that the Knesset can override the court with a majority vote is 45%. The percentage of Israeli citizens who support that proposal as it is is 25%. The percentage of Israeli citizens who support that proposal as it is is 25%. The percentage of Israeli citizens who would support the proposal if it increased the majority required to override the court's decision is 23%.

All right, and last but not least, our have a nice day story. Insulin prices are continuing to fall across the United States as political and private market pressures mount. Sanofi became the last of the three major insulin makers to cut or cap its price of the drug at $35 per month. Roughly 90% of all insulin in the United States is from San to treat their diabetes, but the drug's surging prices have made it difficult for many patients to afford treatment over the last few decades. For years, the drug has been much costlier in the United States than other countries, though it's finally coming down. USA Today has the story, and there's a link to it in today's episode description. All right, everybody, that is it for today's podcast. As always, if you want to support our work

Please go to readtango.com Slash membership and become a member We'll be right back here same time tomorrow Have a good one Peace Edited by Zosia Warpea. Our script is edited by Sean Brady, Ari Weitzman, and Bailey Saul. Shout out to our interns, Audrey Moorhead and Watkins Kelly, and our social media manager, Magdalena Vakova, who created our podcast logo. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet75.

For more from Tangle, check out our website at www.tangle.com. Based on Charles Yu's award-winning book, Interior Chinatown follows the story of Willis Wu, a background character trapped in a police procedural who dreams about a world beyond Chinatown. When he inadvertently becomes a witness to a crime, Willis begins to unravel a criminal web, his family's buried history, and what it feels like to be in the spotlight. Interior Chinatown is streaming November 19th, only on Disney+. quad and help protect yourself from the flu. It's the first cell-based flu vaccine authorized in Canada for ages six months and older, and it may be available for free in your province. Side effects and allergic reactions can occur and 100% protection is not guaranteed.

Learn more at flucellvax.ca.