White House says Israel's judicial overhaul vote 'unfortunate'

WASHINGTON — The White House said Monday it was “unfortunate” that Israel’s parliament passed with the “slimmest possible majority” a law to curb the influence of its Supreme Court.  

Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, gave its final approval to the first part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary, despite mass protests that have convulsed the country as well as months of behind-the-scenes pressure from the Biden administration. 

The new measure, passed by a narrow majority of 64 (out of 120), would prevent the Supreme Court from overturning government decisions and ministerial appointments deemed “unreasonable.” 

The law’s passage could further complicate Israeli relations with the Biden administration, which has also been critical of Israel’s approval of new West Bank settlements and incendiary rhetoric from radical members of Netanyahu’s Cabinet. In a show of his disapproval, Biden waited until last week — seven months after the formation of a new Israeli government — to invite Netanyahu to meet with him in the United States. 

“As a lifelong friend of Israel, President Biden has publicly and privately expressed his views that major democratic changes to be enduring must have as broad a consensus as possible,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. 

Jean-Pierre said the administration would continue supporting the efforts of Israeli President Isaac Herzog to “build a broader consensus through political dialogue.” 

The vote comes a week after Biden urged Netanyahu in a phone call to back off the judicial plan, which the Israeli leader’s hard-line coalition says is necessary to curb the overreach of activist judges. On Monday, Justice Minister Yarin Lavin, a key architect of the plan, called the vote a “first step in a historic process of fixing the country’s justice system.” 

David Makovsky, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said there was little Biden could have done to prevent an Israeli coalition determined on passing the legislation from doing so.

“Netanyahu kept the coalition but he lost the public,” Makovsky said. “I think Biden was successful with the people of Israel, but not with the government.” 

Netanyahu and his right-wing allies have faced mounting domestic opposition over their plan to revamp the judiciary, which critics warned would undermine the country’s delicate system of checks and balances and potentially personally benefit Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis protested in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities ahead of Monday's vote. 

Following the Knesset decision, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid promised to petition the High Court of Justice, saying the judicial changes amount to “the destruction of Israeli democracy.” 

In a statement following the Knesset vote, the left-leaning pro-Israel advocacy group J Street called on the Biden administration to take action beyond “polite warnings.”

“While the Netanyahu government fundamentally alters Israel’s democratic character and plows ahead toward a more authoritarian and ethno-nationalist future, ‘business as usual’ from Congress and the White House is a recipe for terrible failure," the group said. 

Observers say Biden has little appetite for confrontation with Israel as he gears up for next year’s presidential election and is bogged down by other foreign policy headaches. Asked about potential repercussions for the judicial overhaul, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller told reporters on Monday the US-Israel relationship “transcends” any single issue. 

“It is because of our friendship with the government of Israel and our friendship with the people of Israel that the president and other members of this administration felt the responsibility to speak out about this measure,” Miller said.

The Biden administration has reversed some but not all of former President Donald Trump’s moves that were seen as favoring Israel over the Palestinians. It's yet to reopen a consulate for the Palestinians in Jerusalem but did restore US aid to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. 

The divisive vote in Israel’s parliament comes less than a week after Herzog reassured Washington about the resilience of Israel’s democracy. Herzog, who attempted to mediate talks between the government and opposition on a compromise agreement, acknowledged in a speech to Congress that Israel was “working through” issues but insisted it had “democracy in its DNA."