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Edited by: Fern Sidman

Addressing the nation Monday evening after his government passed the first phase of the judicial reform measures aimed at securing a real system of checks and balances between the judiciary and the government,  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was fulfilling the will of the voters.

“Fulfilling the will of the voter is by no means the end of democracy, it is the essence of democracy,” Netanyahu said, adding that the passage of the law was “a necessary democratic move, ” CNN reported on Monday.

He blamed the opposition for refusing to compromise, but did not say what compromises the governing coalition had offered.

As he did in a speech last week, he urged military reservists not to refuse to serve.

“We all know that the Israel Defense Forces relies on dedicated reservists who love the country. The call for refusal harms the security of all citizens of the country,” he said, as was reported by CNN. “I call on you, our brothers and sisters who serve in the reserves — leave the service in the IDF out of the political debate.”

Chief of Staff Lt. Col. Herzi Halevi published a video on Tuesday following the passage of the government’s ‘Reasonableness Standard’ bill yesterday addressing the growing calls for soldiers to refuse to report for duty, as was reported by Israel National News.

“Yesterday was a day of peak intensity of the controversy in Israeli society,” the Chief of Staff said. “Yesterday was a day of peak intensity of controversy in Israeli society,” said Lt. Col. Halevy. “In the midst of this upheaval, the IDF has a great responsibility to protect the State of Israel and its citizens. These days of controversy and crisis require us to emphasize that which we have in common and unifies us – the task of defending the state is our deep commitment. The IDF is competent and ready for any challenge, this is our imperative to ensure the existence of the state. The IDF’s protective force consists of every soldier, every commander, every reservist and regular soldier, who work together for a common goal.”

INN reported that he added: “We must bring together the reservists, who are very dear to us, whose contribution to the security of the country is great. Even those who have made a decision with a heavy heart not to report for duty, the IDF needs you. Only together will we protect our home. We will train, prepare and act together. We will choose to stand firm in the face of the challenges of this complex time. We have a great responsibility.”

The IDF also admitted that the phenomenon of refusing to serve has begun. IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said that “at the current point in time, the IDF is competent. There was an increase in requests to stop reserve service, alongside this, there is an ongoing dialogue between commanders and soldiers. If reservists do not show up for a long time – there will be damage to the army’s competence, this is a gradual process that will be affected according to the presence of the reservists.”

A reserve soldier who refused to show up for a battalion training has been tried, and was ordered by his commander to pay a fine of 1,000 NIS, Kan News reported.

The soldier’s refusal to participate was spurred by, and part of, the recent protests against judicial reform.

“I will not serve under a government which is rushing towards revolution laws,” the soldier said.

In March, 650 refused to report for duty, among them 450 officers and soldier from the Military Intelligence Special Operations Division and 200 from the IDF’s cyber warfare units. INN also reported that a few days later, 200 IAF pilots informed their commander that they will not be taking part in reserve duty in protest of judicial reform.

In April, it was clarified that those refusing to serve in the reserves due to protests against the government will face consequences. The INN report indicated that last week, several hundred reserve pilots said they will refuse to serve unless the judicial reform is dropped.

On July 21st, Kan News reported that hundreds of pilots in IDF reserves are preparing to announce this weekend their decision to stop serving in the reserves in protest against the legislation to reduce the reasonability clause.

According to the report, about 500 pilots announced that they refuse to continue reserve service in the current situation by submitting personal letters to their commanders.

INN reported that over the past week, the army held talks with some of the pilots through the squadron commanders, but a person who was present at one of the meetings described a difficult atmosphere in the closed rooms and a crisis of trust also following the discourse against them.

Last week, Force Commander General Tomer Bar warned that the harsh statements towards the army harm cohesion, the INN report stated. “The service model in the Air Force has been working excellently for 75 years. Reservists and regulars, technicians and pilots, ‘green and blue.’ “, Bar added, as was reported by INN. “I stand behind the principle of cohesion in service and will continue to do so. The army has many challenges and we do not have the authority not to meet them. All the actions that the Air Force carries out are in line with the values of the IDF, and are ordered by the relevant parties for operational considerations only.”

An IDF statement confirmed that a letter had been received from more than 1100 IAF reservists, and said the IDF is examining the details and potential implications.

In related news, Israel National News also reported that the United States on Monday expressed disappointment over the fact that the first phase of the judicial reform passed in the Knesset without a broad consensus.

“As a lifelong friend of Israel, President Biden has publicly and privately expressed his views that major changes in a democracy to be enduring must have as broad a consensus as possible. It is unfortunate that the vote today took place with the slimmest possible majority,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a statement.

“We understand talks are ongoing and likely to continue over the coming weeks and months to forge a broader compromise even with the Knesset in recess. The United States will continue to support the efforts of President Herzog and other Israeli leaders as they seek to build a broader consensus through political dialogue,” she added.

The INN report said that the statement followed approval in the Knesset of changes to the reasonableness standard, with the bill passing with a majority of 64 Knesset members.

On Sunday, before the vote in the Knesset, Biden called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to move forward with the planned vote.

From the perspective of Israel’s friends in the United States, “it looks like the current judicial reform proposal is becoming more divisive, not less,” Biden said in a statement to Axios’ Barak Ravid, as was reported by Israel National News.

“Given the range of threats and challenges confronting Israel right now, it doesn’t make sense for Israeli leaders to rush this — the focus should be on pulling people together and finding consensus,” the President added.

Last week, Biden held a telephone conversation with Netanyahu. After that conversation, senior analyst Thomas Friedman published an opinion article in The New York Times, in which he wrote that Biden implored Netanyahu not to advance the legislation of the judicial reform without even the semblance of a national consensus, according to the INN report.

According to Friedman, he was invited by the President to the Oval Office to “make sure that Biden’s position is crystal clear to all Israelis.”

The Algemeiner reported that Senator Tom Cotton (R-AK) on Monday slammed President Biden’s attempts to influence Israeli politics in the aftermath of a vote that Israel’s governing coalition says is the first step in a sweeping plan to reform the country’s judicial system. “Joe Biden’s meddling in Israel’s internal politics is unprecedented and inappropriate,” Cotton said in a statement to The Algemeiner. “He has no business telling one of our most important allies how to govern their own country.”

Also condemning the Biden administration’s condemnation of the Netanyahu government for passing the first phase of the judicial reform measures in Israel were former Vice President and Republican Presidential primary candidate Mike Pence, as was reported by the Algemeiner.com. Pence made these statements in an appearance on the Hugh Hewitt Show before the vote Monday.

“This preoccupation of Democrats, which literally goes back decades, of trying to micromanage what’s happening in the domestic politics in Israel is wrongheaded,” Pence said, according to the report on the Algemeiner.com web site. “And it undermines a clear message to one of the most dangerous parts of the world of our commitment to our most cherished ally. I reject it categorically.”

Regarding Israeli media reaction to the passage of the Law to Cancel the Reasonableness Standard by the Knesset on Monday, the Jewish News Syndicate reported that several Israeli newspapers published an entirely black front page on Tuesday morning.

The pages were paid advertisements by the Israeli Hi-Tech Protest movement, a group containing representatives from hi-tech companies including CEOs, venture capital investors, self-employed entrepreneurs, and regular hi-tech employees, as was reported by JNS.

The ads read, “a black day for Israeli democracy” in small white text at the bottom. Also in small text at the top was the word “advertisement.”

Although all the newspapers involved – Yediot Aharonot, Calcalist, Israel Hayom, and Haaretz – disclosed the advertisement at the top of their front page, some readers claimed that the text was too small and it was not clear enough that the all-black front page was paid for, the JNS report indicated.

The protest group itself posted on Twitter openly claiming the advertisement on Tuesday morning, saying: “They got us! We tried so hard to hide our logo, [it’s on] page 2 of the newspaper.”

“We are now heading to a long recess,” Justice Minister Yariv Levin (Likud) said in the Knesset plenum after the bill passed, as was reported by JNS. “I am setting out, knowing that we passed an important bill, but with no gloating and with a true wish to bring all parts of the nation together.”

Also on Monday, Tazpit Press Service reported that several Israeli Supreme Court Justices visiting Germany cut their trip short and are returning to Jerusalem to study legal appeals filed by opposition groups against the “reasonableness bill” passed by the Knesset in a 64-0 vote on Monday. Opposition lawmakers boycotted the third and final vote.

The justices, including Supreme Court Esther Hayut, were in Germany as guests of the Germany-Israel Friendship Association in honor of Israel’s 75th anniversary, as was reported by TPS.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel said it has already requested an injunction from the Supreme Court.

TPS also reported that the organization claimed the law should be canceled as it “fundamentally changes the basic structure of Israeli parliamentary democracy and the nature of the regime, while de facto abolishing the judiciary and seriously damaging the delicate fabric of the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances in the State of Israel.

“The government of destruction has raised its malicious hand against the State of Israel. Now it’s the Supreme Court’s turn to step up and prevent this legislation [from taking effect],” the Movement for Quality Government’s chairman Eliad Shraga said.

World Israel News reported on Tuesday that former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert announced in an interview on Monday evening that the State of Israel is officially entering a period of civil war following the passage of the first phase of the judicial reform measures.

“This is a serious threat. It’s never happened before. We are going into a civil war now,” Olmert told British news Channel 4, as was reported by WIN.

The interviewer seemed to be taken aback by Olmert’s declaration, incredulously repeating the words “civil war” in a shocked tone. Olmert then walked back his statement.

“Yeah, I mean, civil disobedience with all of the possible ramifications to the stability of the state and the ability of the government to perform, to the obedience of the large part of the Israeli population to a government which is perceived by a large part of the population to be illegitimate,” he said, according to the WIN report.

“The government has decided to threaten the foundations of Israeli democracy, and this is not something that we can accept or tolerate,” he added.

Opining in his regular column on the FrontPageMag.com web site, distinguished political commentator Daniel Greenfield wrote on Monday that “the Israeli left, political elites and media allies have been howling that Israel’s democracy is being destroyed because of democratic judicial reforms that would stop the Supreme Court from wielding absolute power and overturning laws simply because the leftists on the court oppose them.”

He added that: “The Herzog visit was in no small part about undermining the Netanyahu government by propping up a leftist opposition figure. (That was why the Dems, who had previously embraced Rep. Ilhan Omar rushed to hide away any dissent, not because they were pro-Israel, but because they were anti-Netanyahu.)

Also discussing why the staunch opponents of the implementation of judicial reform in Israel are so incredibly livid over the passage of the reasonableness clause, Greenfield writes that:  “What it really means is that the Supreme Court is able to overturn decisions reached by elected officials  because the leftists on the court (who select their own membership) think they’re not ‘reasonable’.

Imagine in the United States if the Supreme Court had the unlimited power to take any case and to overturn any government decision, not based on the Constitution, but based on its own opinions. Then imagine that the Supreme Court could select its own members. This is the nightmarish situation in Israel which the Left has done everything to uphold because it keeps on losing actual democratic elections.”

He added that, “When Israel’s leftists elites and their foreign allies shriek that democracy is under siege if their courts can’t supersede democratically elected officials, what they really mean is that democracy is besieging them.”

(Sources: CNN.com, IsraelNationalNews.com, Algemeiner.com, TPS.org, worldisraelnews.com)