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New violence, mass protests – will the new government plunge Israel into chaos?

Israel does not rest.

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New violence, mass protests – will the new government plunge Israel into chaos?

Israel does not rest. On Wednesday, protesters called out a "day of disruption". Thousands of citizens occupied train stations and highways. In Tel Aviv, police used stun grenades and mounted units to break up sit-ins. Mass protests against the government have been going on for weeks. At the same time, terrorist attacks by Palestinians are increasing, Israeli settlers are burning down Palestinian houses and economists are warning of massive damage to the economy. An overview shows which sources of fire are keeping the country in suspense and who is responsible for them.

The government provokes uproar with a judicial reform that amounts to a state restructuring. Observers even warn of an “end of democracy”. At the heart of the reform is a law that would allow Parliament to overrule Supreme Court decisions by a simple majority. This is explosive because the court is the government's most important opponent.

Israel has no constitution, but twelve basic laws that serve as the foundation of the political order. The Supreme Court prevents legislative projects that contradict the spirit of these Basic Laws. It is therefore the most important control body of the executive and ensures a balance of powers.

The new government, which has several ministers with criminal records - Netanyahu himself is currently facing charges of corruption - wants to disempower the Supreme Court. For example, the government could use the “override clause” to decide to grant Netanyahu immunity and halt his corruption trial.

Netanyahu's coalition wants to push through this reform against the will of the population: According to a survey by the Israeli Institute for Democracy, 66 percent of citizens are against it. Even half of Netanyahu's voters reject her.

The Israeli shekel collapsed. In the past month alone, it has lost almost 10 percent of its value against the US dollar. Meanwhile, the list of economists accusing the government of damaging Israel's economy continues to grow. Even the Treasury Department's chief economist, Schira Greenberg, recently warned that the judicial reform would damage Israel's reputation and discourage investors.

Former Israel Central Bank governor and JP Morgan Chase International chairman Jacob Frenkel goes further: the government's efforts to weaken the judiciary could ruin the economy. “The value of the shekel reflects reality. We are in a situation of total uncertainty - economic uncertainty, political uncertainty and institutional uncertainty that is affecting all sectors of the economy: consumers, manufacturers, investors, the ordinary citizen," Frenkel said. "And that uncertainty is homegrown, it's not an external shock."

Netanyahu dismisses such warnings as "hysteria." But Israel's start-up scene says it is already feeling the consequences of the damage to its image caused by the judicial reform. Accordingly, financiers threatened to no longer want to invest in Israel's technology start-ups. Several large Israeli companies have therefore announced that they will withdraw their corporate capital from the country.

The riots in the West Bank show that Netanyahu does not have his own far-right coalition partners under control. The Israeli army reacts to increasing attacks by Palestinians against Israeli citizens with raids in notorious terrorist strongholds such as Jenin and Nablus. It is the most violent period in Israel and the Palestinian Territories in a long time.

Thirteen Israelis have died in terrorist attacks this year and 62 Palestinians in military operations. According to Israeli information, the Palestinians killed are members of terrorist organizations who fired on the Israeli army during the raids. However, some civilians also died during the military operations in the West Bank.

Violence escalated this week: terrorists killed two young Israelis as they drove through the Palestinian West Bank city of Howara with Israeli license plates. Israeli settlers then raided the city and set fire to dozens of Palestinian homes and cars. According to Palestinian sources, at least one man was killed and hundreds injured.

Yehuda Fuchs, the Israeli general in charge of troops in the West Bank, spoke of a "pogrom" and accused Jewish extremists of "spreading terror." Prime Minister Netanyahu called for calm: "Even if the blood boils", nobody should "take the law into their own hands". Eight suspected Israelis were temporarily arrested.

But while the head of government condemned the violence against Palestinians, individual politicians fueled the riots. Such acts provided the necessary deterrent, praised Zvika Fogel from the far-right Jewish Strength party, which is the minister for public security.

Right-wing extremist coalition members repeatedly publicly contradict the head of government, particularly on issues relating to security and settlement construction in the West Bank. When Netanyahu traveled to Jordan for talks with the Palestinian leadership a few days ago, Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich derided the summit as "superfluous".

He and Public Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir promptly denied that there would be a four-month freeze on all settlement projects - despite a joint statement by the Israeli government and the Palestinian leadership after the summit promising just that. A few hours later, Netanyahu himself backtracked and said there would be no settlement freeze.

Apparently, the right-wing extremist partners are driving the prime minister in front of them. And in the Middle East conflict, they rely on toughness instead of de-escalation.

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