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The country’s president warned the new far-right national security minister that he was sounding the alarm at home and opposed racism, discrimination and the undermining of democracy.
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By Isabel Kershner
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s new minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, struck coalition agreements Wednesday to shape the highest right-wing, religiously conservative government in the country’s history, a day before a planned vote in parliament to install the new leaders.
The coalition pledged to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, a move that will deepen the confrontation with the Palestinians. And its members agreed to prioritize potentially far-reaching adjustments that would restrict the strength and influence of the independent judiciary, one of many critics of the measures say they threaten to undermine Israel’s democratic formula and pave the way for racism and discrimination against minorities.
Even before Thursday’s swearing-in ceremony, a widespread public backlash against the government prompted an intervention by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, which raised alarm among some domestic and foreign electorates about the maximum questionable clauses in coalition agreements.
Herzog summoned Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the Jewish government, an ultranationalist party and new national security minister, to an assembly and broadcast “voices from broad sectors of the country and the Jewish world involved in the new government,” the president said. He suggested Ben-Gvir “to calm the stormy winds. “
The president is a largely ceremonial figurehead who has no legal authority to influence the new government, but his voice carries ethical weight and is intended to unify Israelis.
Ben-Gvir told Herzog that he and the new government “will pursue a broad national policy for intelligence from all parts of Israeli society,” according to the president’s office.
The assembly took a position the morning that coalition agreements between the new government’s partners were presented to parliament on Wednesday, a final step required a day before a vote in parliament to approve the new coalition.
The government’s directives began with a declaration of the “exclusive and inalienable right of other Jews over all parts of the Land of Israel” and promised to strengthen Jewish settlement in all areas, adding the occupied West Bank, which reflected the abandonment of this government. of the formula identified around the world to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. founded on the creation of a Palestinian state throughout Israel.
“We have achieved the goal,” Netanyahu told Likud lawmakers on Wednesday as intense coalition negotiations ended nearly two months after the Nov. 1 election.
“A massive in Israel, more than two million Israelis, voted for the national camp that we lead,” he said. “We will identify a strong government that will last its entire term and serve all the citizens of Israel. “
But the agreements were already causing tensions with Diaspora Jews and with the predominantly unorthodox network in North America, and raise questions about Israel’s external position.
More than a hundred retired Israeli ambassadors and senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed a letter to the Foreign Minister on Wednesday. Netanyahu expressed “deep concern” about the possible damage to Israel’s strategic relations, primarily with the United States, through the new government’s obvious policies.
In an interview with CNN, Jordan’s King Abdullah II said he was “ready to go into conflict” if Israel crossed red lines and tried to replace the prestige of a Jerusalem holy site respected by Muslims and Jews, and in Jordanian custody. Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1994, but relations between King Abdullah and Netanyahu have long been strained.
Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, is expected to resume work 18 months after his ouster. Prosecuted for corruption, he is increasingly dependent on his hardline allies, as most liberal parties refuse to sit in a government led by a prime minister. facing thief charges.
One of the most debatable elements of the new government’s plans is the prioritization of adjustments to the judicial system, adding a law that will allow Parliament to overturn Supreme Court decisions. This would restrict the influence of the independent judiciary, which has played a role in preserving minority rights in a country that has no formal constitution, and give more unchecked strength to the political majority.
But coalition agreements are binding and many of their clauses remain on paper and never materialize. The clauses on the judiciary are indistinct and provide few main points on what, how or when. The proposal to allow parliament to overturn Supreme Court rulings, for example, does specify whether an uncontested parliamentary majority of 61 of the 120 lawmakers will be enough to overturn a Supreme Court ruling or whether a special majority will be required.
Ben-Gvir has been convicted in the afterlife of inciting racism and supporting a terrorist organization and ran for work with a bullish price to combat organized crime and governance, namely in areas densely populated by members of Israel’s Arab minority.
This week, parliament passed a law expanding ministerial forces over the police in a way that critics say will allow Ben-Gvir to politicize the force’s operations. The coalition’s agreement stipulates that it will have the strength to replace regulations on open shooting, which could allow police more leeway, which could fuel tensions with Israel’s Arab citizens.
Ben-Gvir and his allies insisted that the coalition agreements come with promises to amend the existing anti-discrimination law, which applies to corporations and service providers, to allow them to refuse to provide a service contrary to their ideals and hold gender-segregated events. .
Far-right lawmakers warned this week that this means doctors can simply refuse to provide treatments that oppose their devotees, for example, offering fertility treatments to someone on a same-sex date, or that hoteliers can simply turn away some guests.
His remarks provoked a public outcry and forced Mr. Netanyahu to explain that no discrimination against the L. G. B. T. Q. community will be tolerated. or any other segment of Israeli society, even if its conservative Likud is a signatory to the coalition agreements.
Israeli banks, insurance companies, medical professionals, legal experts and business leaders have denounced the proposed amendments and said they will cooperate with any discriminatory behavior in their fields.
Gabby Sobelman contributed reporting from Rehovot, Israel.
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