 |
|
I’m writing to share J Street’s statements and news updates.
As the Netanyahu government nears the three-month mark, massive protests against it continue, opposing what many Israelis characterize as an attempted judicial coup. While the government’s legislation is on pause while the Knesset is on recess until the start of May, there is a widespread awareness in Israel that there is still a real and present danger to democracy.
As Israel approaches the 75th anniversary of its founding, these Israelis make us proud and give us hope and resolve to fight for US policies that will support a democratic, peaceful future for Israel.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu made news this week by offering the important position of Israeli Consul General in New York to May Golan, a Cabinet minister from his Likud Party, who is widely known in Israel for stating she is “proud to be racist” and working to expel African asylum seekers (whom she calls “infiltrators), as well as for her hostility toward feminism. Notably, former senior Israeli diplomats expressed their “shock,” writing, “Golan’s appointment is outrageous as she is a racist and divisive figure, which is the exact opposite from what Israel needs in such a critical place.” Former US Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk stated the appointment “will be seen by the American Jewish community as a sign of utmost disrespect.” State Department Spokesperson Vedant Patel also condemned Golan’s rhetoric.
Along with other members of the Netanyahu government, May Golan is featured in our just-updated dossier on the Netanyahu government, and I urge you to continue to make use of it – or check it out, if you haven’t yet. As always, you can find our Congressional briefing book, background information on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, recordings of previous briefings and more at J Street’s Congressional Resource Page.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.
All the best,
Debra
—
Debra Shushan, PhD
Director of Policy, J Street
mobile: (757) 746-0366 | [email protected] | @DrShushan
|
This week on j street
|
|
|
| ISSUE BRIEF |
|
ANNEXATION STEPS TAKEN BY THE NETANYAHU GOVERNMENT
|
| Read more → |
|
|
|
|
|
What we’re reading
|
Israeli protests of legal overhaul show no signs of slowing
|
 |
| Israeli demonstrations against the government’s plan to overhaul the judiciary continued on Saturday, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to pause the contentious proposals. Tens of thousands of people participated in the main protest held in the central city of Tel Aviv, while smaller demonstrations took place across the country. Protest organizers, who have held these weekly protests for over three months, aim to maintain momentum and increase pressure on Netanyahu and his government until the proposed changes are scrapped. Bending to the mass protests, Netanyahu paused the overhaul plans in March, saying he wanted “to avoid civil war.” |
| read more |
Israel: self-proclaimed ‘racist’ politician nominated as New York consul general
|
 |
| Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has nominated a far-right politician who once boasted that she is “proud to be a racist” as his country’s top diplomat in New York. The appointment of May Golan was swiftly denounced by Israeli and American former diplomats, and the head of the largest Jewish denomination in the US, as an affront to the US and damaging for Israel… Golan, who is a member of the Israeli parliament for Netanyahu’s Likud party and a minister without portfolio in the current government, is a supporter of the ultranationalist faction in the ruling coalition that is attempting to curb the power of Israel’s courts in what has been described as a “judicial coup”. She will take over from Asaf Zamir, who resigned last month after telling a meeting of American Jewish donors that he was “deeply concerned about the direction [Israel] is going in right now”. Golan made a political name for herself by denouncing African refugees in Israel, calling them “Muslim infiltrators”, criminals and rapists. She said many have Aids, suggested they were spreading HIV by working as waiters, and demanded they be expelled from the country. “If I am racist for wanting to defend my country and for wanting to protect my basic rights and security, then I’m a proud racist,” she said at a political rally in 2013 as a member of the far-right Jewish Power party, a descendent of the Kach party that was outlawed under Israeli anti-terrorism laws. The former US ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk, said the appointment “will be seen by the American Jewish community as a sign of utmost disrespect”. |
| read more |
Israel’s Right-Wing Government Has Jewish Democrats at a Loss
|
 |
| Last month, as demonstrations across Israel convulsed politics in the Jewish state, Jewish Democrats in the House who have made up the bulwark of Israel’s support on their side of the aisle met privately with the country’s ambassador…. [It] was a watershed, because it was organized by and included some of Israel’s strongest supporters in the Democratic Caucus. If Mr. Cicilline spoke for liberal Jews in Rhode Island, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz was just as critical of Israeli actions on behalf of far more conservative Jews in her South Florida district. Representative Brad Schneider, Democrat of Illinois and one of the meeting’s organizers, said, “We were dealing with a very complicated issue that has no easy solution, where people have very strong feelings, and those feelings were shared as though among family.” As their younger Jewish constituents see Zionism as less central to their Jewish identity, Democrats are finding it politically easier to level strong criticism of Israeli government action, said Representative Jan Schakowsky, Democrat of Illinois. “This next generation of American Jews are really justice Jews,” she said. “If you expect them to care at all” about Israel, she added, “you’d better address injustices to the Palestinians.” |
| read more |
Holy Fire celebrated by Christians in Jerusalem amid Israeli police restrictions
|
 |
| The Holy Fire ceremony drew huge crowds to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in occupied East Jerusalem, where Israeli Police control security. It sits on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified and buried. Police had limited attendance to 1,800 people inside and 1,200 outside, citing safety reasons. Church leaders urged Christians to ignore restrictions and criticised the police presence at the event… In previous years, as many as 10,000 worshippers packed into the church, with many more crowding into the surrounding alleyways of the Old City. But for the second year running, church leaders were told that access would be considerably restricted over safety concerns. “We have also sat with external engineers who have told us there is a limit to the crowd size that is allowed inside of the church and due to these statements by the engineers we are limiting the crowds,” police spokesperson Master Sergeant Dean Elsdunne said previously… The churches say the restrictions are part of long-standing efforts to push out the local Christian community. They say local Christians have faced increased harassment and violence in recent months in the occupied East of the city, and claim that extremists have become emboldened by the rise of the Israeli far-right. |
| read more |
‘Serious atmosphere’ but no initial agreement as overhaul talks tackle judge picks
|
 |
| President Isaac Herzog’s office hosted a first discussion Monday on the contentious issue of the makeup of the Judicial Selection Committee as part of judicial overhaul negotiations between the coalition and opposition. While reports indicated that the talks were serious, the gap between the sides’ positions is significant. The coalition’s current bill — which has passed all legislative hurdles except its final Knesset plenum votes — would heavily politicize the committee and give the coalition practically complete control over the appointment of judges. The makeup of the committee, which currently divides power between politicians and sitting justices regarding new Supreme Court appointments, is arguably the most contentious part of the overhaul, and the issue on which a compromise is the most elusive. Coalition representative Hanoch Milwidsky, a Likud lawmaker, said afterward: “There is much to work on, but there are also partners to work with. The optimism I voiced after the previous discussion still stands, believe it or not.” The opposition Yesh Atid and National Unity parties released a joint statement stressing “the need to reach wide agreement while preserving all principles of democracy, on which we will not compromise.” |
| read more |
Moody’s downgrades Israel’s credit outlook, citing ‘deterioration of governance’
|
 |
| Leading rating agency Moody’s downgraded Israel’s economic outlook from positive to stable on Friday, citing the “deterioration of Israel’s governance” amid months of upheaval over the government’s highly contentious bid to dramatically overhaul the judiciary. The report Friday confirmed fears that Israel’s credit outlook could be knocked down, as Moody’s had warned last month, if the hardline government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pursues plans to bring most judicial appointments under political control and dramatically curb the powers of the High Court of Justice. If implemented in full, the proposals for judicial revamp would “materially weaken the strength of the judiciary and as such be credit negative,” Moody’s said in a six-page report in early March… “While mass protests have led the government to pause the legislation and seek dialogue with the opposition, the manner in which the government has attempted to implement a wide-ranging reform without seeking broad consensus points to a weakening of institutional strength and policy predictability,” Moody’s strongly worded, eight-page report read. |
| read more |
Israel PM cautions Saudi Arabia about Iran after China-brokered deal, urges greater U.S. presence
|
 |
| The China-brokered March 10 détente between long-term rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran has dealt a blow to Netanyahu’s diplomatic crusade of pursuing Tehran’s political isolation. It also prospectively set back Israel’s attempts to normalize relations with Riyadh, one of the wealthiest and most influential Arab states and a historical supporter of Palestinians… The foreign policy hit comes at a time when Netanyahu contends with domestic tensions over his controversial judicial overhaul and recent salvos against alleged Lebanon-based infrastructures belonging to the Iran-funded Hamas militant group — which both Israel and the U.S. designate as a terrorist organization. Before that, footage of Israeli forces beating worshippers in Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque during the Arabic holy month of Ramadan drew international condemnations, including from Saudi Arabia. Netanyahu denied awareness of any Chinese initiative to intercede to end the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians… “I think that not only Israel but I think in many ways most of the … countries in the Middle East would welcome an American, not merely the American involvement in the Middle East which has been ongoing, but a greater engagement of America in the Middle East,” Netanyahu said. “I think it’s very important for the United States to be very clear about its commitment and engagement in the Middle East.” |
| read more |
|
