This new Israeli government is wasting no time disposing of the illusion of legitimacy. Netanyahu and his ilk are moving to dismantle their supreme court, radically overhauling the judiciary. Apparently there’s a perception on the Israeli right that the supreme court is overly activist and sides with liberals on issues like settlements. Bear in mind that the construction of these settlements isn’t just illegal, it comes at the cost of human lives.
Now the governing coalition wants to give the Israeli parliament more power to select judges and override supreme court rulings. Opponents say this coalition’s proposed changes would completely alter the nature of Israel’s current “liberal democracy", which is a strange way of saying “oppressive apartheid state”. Israel doesn’t have a formal constitution; it has basic laws that can be changed with 61 out of 120 votes in the parliament. Netanyahu’s coalition has 64.
The previous Israeli government, which included a small Islamic Arab party for the first time, tried somewhat to fight crime in conjunction with Arab local authorities. Now the minister/lunatic overseeing the police, Itamar Ben Gvir, has a history of being an anti-Arab activist and open bigot. Consequently, Israeli police murdered another Palestinian yesterday, raising this year’s total to 13 dead in 14 days. Odd behavior for a “liberal democracy”.
Side Items
Chinese Virus Update: China released initial figures illustrating just how much coronavirus is devastating communities since the repeal of Zero Covid. Nearly 60,000 people died in hospitals in the last month, a giant increase from previously reported figures that came after global criticism of the country's coronavirus data. The WHO called out China’s lack of clarity on death figures earlier in the week, so China let it ring out for all to hear, this virus is still killing people every day
Russian Attack on Dnipro: A Russian missile destroyed a residential building in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro yesterday, killing at least 25 people and wounding more than 70. Vlad Putin said that the Russian operation in Ukraine is gaining positive momentum and that he hoped soldiers would deliver more wins after Russia claimed control of the eastern Ukrainian salt-mining town of Soledar
Another Liverpool Letdown: The Reds traveled to Amex Stadium yesterday to take on Brighton & Hove Albion FC, mid-to-bottom table competition, a match that many expected Liverpool to win. Fortunately, I’m a cynic and a skeptic by nature, so Liverpool’s disappointing first half performance came as no shock to me. Yet we entered the second half level at 0-0 and proceeded to put on a shockingly awful display, squandering the scant opportunities we manufactured and allowing Brighton to run circles around us. Final score, Brighton 3, Liverpool 0 (next match is Tuesday against Wolves)