Over 500 Israel academics worldwide call for complete removal of judicial overhaul

More than 500 Israeli academics, scientists and doctors from around the world have called for the complete removal of the Israeli far-right government’s judicial plan, reported Haaretz. 

The signatories, including researchers from Harvard, Yale and Oxford, penned an open letter, published yesterday, expressing their commitment to supporting protests, strikes and other actions until the government respects the Supreme Court’s decisions and entirely reverses the judicial reforms. 

The statement read, “At the outset of critical deliberations in the Supreme Court of Israel, we, Israeli academics, physicians and scientists residing abroad, wish to speak up again in support of the Justices of the Supreme Court.”

“Israeli academic institutions are already experiencing a loss of funding and a ‘brain drain’ due to the government’s assault on democracy and the politicisation of research and education. These destructive processes will eventually lead to the decline of science and the higher education system in Israel,” it read.

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They described themselves as “appalled and alarmed by the grave crisis instigated by the Israeli government.”

Protesters are concerned that the judicial changes being introduced by Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his coalition will erode democratic norms and grant too much power to the current Israeli government, which is Israel’s most far-right and religious coalition to date, enabling it to overturn existing laws, eroding Israel’s democracy, activists say.

“Pursuing limitless power requires relentless, uncompromising acts of protest and resistance,” the letter added, stating that “an independent judicial system, across its many branches, is a vital safeguard against tyranny.” 

“We unconditionally support our friends in Israel who are protesting against the government’s actions and, in particular, stand in solidarity with our fellow academics and healthcare professionals.”

It comes after the Knesset passed the reasonableness bill in July, which is the first of a series of measures that make up Netanyahu’s divisive judicial overhaul.

The bill was passed by a majority of 64 out of the 120 Knesset members, despite widespread local opposition and 30 weeks of protests by Israeli citizens, members of the army and medics. The bill limits the Supreme Court’s power to overturn government decisions and appointments of ministers it deems ‘unreasonable’.

In a statement, Dr Tali Reiner Brodetzki, an assistant professor at LaSalle University in Philadelphia who played a role in organising the open letter on behalf of UnXeptable, a protest movement in the United States advocating for Israel, expressed growing concerns among Israeli expatriates.

She said, “Even though we currently live abroad, Israel will always be our home. I, personally, do not sleep at night out of worry about the destruction of the fabric of democratic and liberal life in Israel to which the government is leading.” 

 “I’m afraid we won’t have a home to return to and raise my children.”

Protests have been organised on a weekly basis throughout Israel since Israeli Justice Minister, Yariv Levin, announced the overhaul package in January, less than a week after the right-wing coalition government took office.

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