adrian: israel's parliament has approved a law to weaken the powers of the supreme court. there have been mass demonstrations by opponents who say it gives the far-right government unlimited control. can it be overturned? and what is the impact for palestinians suffering daily israeli brutality? this is "inside story." ♪ hello and welcome to the program. i'm adrian fineghan.

months and months of the biggest protests israel has ever seen, yet they couldn't stop the far-right government of prime minister benjamin netanyahu pushing through a law to weaken the supreme court. its judges can no longer overturn government decisions they consider to be unreasonable. opponents from across israeli society say that ministers can now do what they like. some say it was able to stop his own persecution of corruption charges. supporters say the legislation will stop judicial interference in politics. as israel trumpets its democracy and argues with itself over the law, what does it mean that palestinians? we will be discussing this in a few moments with our guests, but one thing is that this issue has left israel divided. >> i said to the opposition leaders, you can continue to argue and fight, but you can also do something else. you can reach agreements about what to do next. let's come to an agreement. this is my call to you and i extend my hand to call for peace

and mutual respect. >> impossible for this government to reach agreement to safeguard democracy. what they want to do is dismantle the country, security, and the unity of the people of israel and our international relations. there is no way to continue to deal with them. adrian: that here now from our who is in tel aviv. reporter: there have been protests now for 29 weeks against this traditional reform. when the protests started, those against the reform felt it was an existential threat for israel, a country that they believe had been founded with the idea that different branches of judaism could quite exist peacefully. in tel aviv you have this more liberal, secular bible, especially an island in what has become much more consecutive

country. the people, we have been speaking to the protesters say they aren't sure how they can continue, of this country can continue to coexist when the government that is in charge, and in their opinion, seems bent on imposing these religious-based laws, they see this as a future of living in a country that is ruled by religious law, more than by secular law. we have a group of doctors looking for ways of living the country. we have had the i.t. sector suffering from a lack of investment over fears of the future direction of the country. so, yes, there are enormous stresses and strains of israeli society, and they will continue in the coming months as people decide how to approach this new law. will it be an appeal to the supreme court? will the supreme court decided to issue a ruling on this new law or just ignore it and say we can't interfere? there are many more difficult and challenging questions to be answered in the months to come

that will put even more stress on israeli society. adrian: so, what does this new law actually mean? it prevents the supreme court from overruling government decisions it considers unreasonable. israel has no written constitution, but judges have always viewed government decisions based on public interest. this will no longer be the case. if the far-right coalition government is able to vote in the remaining traditional changes, it will have more control over the appointment of judges. ♪ let's bring in our guests. for today's discussion, we are joined from haifa by diana buttu, lawyer and former legal advisor to the palestine liberation organisation. from the middle east, judy maltz, senior correspondent for the haaretz newspaper, she has been closely following this from israel. and hassan jabareen, lawyer and founder of adalah: the legal

center for arab minority rights in israel. he has litigated cases before the israeli supreme court on behalf of palestinians. welcome to all of you. is israel headed towards a distiller ship -- a dictatorship? guest: it has always been a dictatorship when it comes to palestinians. keep in mind we are talking about changes to the judiciary, a judiciary that has never really served the interests of palestinians or that has ever put any checks and balances on the israeli government when it comes to palestinians. this is a supreme court that has allowed for torture of palestinians, a supreme court that has allowed for the destruction of palestinian homes. it is a supreme court that has greenlighted the construction of settlements, the construction of the wall, all of these measures that illegal. for palestinians, this has been a dictatorship and will continue to be a dictatorship. the question now is whether everybody will step in and

actually recognize it for what it is and do something to stop israel, and i'm afraid that they won't adrian: kandiss taylor vizio survive this crisis? will all parties eventually before to come to the table and negotiate a way forward? the law has passed, so what would a compromise look like? guest: well, i don't see their a compromise on this particular law even though prime minister bibi netanyahu went on television last night a few hours after it was passed instead, basically gas letting the public, that he is open to compromise after it has been passed. it's important to remember that this law that was passed yesterday in the israeli parliament, is only one part of a big package that the government has been trying to get through since january.

this government, which is the most religious, right-wing and extremist government in israel's history. and that three other parts it has not managed to push through, and that is thanks to this protest movement. it is the biggest popular uprising in israeli history. and one thing i would like to say is that i think that thanks to this protest movement, many israelis who previously ignored the occupation, didn't think about it, preferred not to look beyond the green line, are starting to understand -- it's a slow process, but it is starting to sink in that all of these things are connected, and that the forces who are promoting the occupation and the settlement, are the same forces that are behind this government

plan to undermine democracy within the greenline. adrian: hassan, what do you make about you just heard, do you agree? guest: i think the legal status of palestinians inside the new, and within the borders of 1967, legally it is worse. it is true that the supreme court cannot be the defender and wasn't the defender of the palestinian rates on either side of the greenline. the supreme court confirmed the major issues that refer to the palestinians. the administrative protection

policy. they never accepted one case against home demolition. never accepted serious cases or limiting the rates of the palestinian people. most of the cases in the last 10 years, most of them or denied because the supreme court already became consecutive conservative, and has been conservative more in the last 10 years and more toward the right wing. but the situation will be worse. because we cannot say that legally it will be the same before and after. because the palestinians, we are the weakest political side in this game. we are not represented and we are not part of the administrative judiciary.

israeli policy is racist against it. thus, the situation will be worse. this will create a new legal climate that says that the israeli government has freehand decide any decision that they wish against the palestinians. and that any legal barrier shouldn't be there. this is a dangerous situation. but this, at least gives us a new window that we can address the national community. israel all the time claims that it has a judiciary and thus there is no need to form an international community to intervene. now this government showed that there is no independence for the judiciary. thus there international community, through its criminal tribunals, must intervene in order to defend that. adrian: we will get onto the

international community reaction and how they could intervene in a few minutes, but first, diana, even if within israel, some sort of compromise could be found to defuse this crisis, with far right parties having moved from the margins to the center of power, how long before something like this will happen again? guest: i don't think this will be something that will return. the site land movement has been rising in power for decades now. it has been rising in power because it has never seen a red light, from the international community and never seen a red light from israeli society itself. israeli society has missing when it comes to settlements. settlements are much a part of the landscape now.

israeli soldiers don't think twice about the land, shooting palestinian kids. it is so ingrained -- that occupation is so ingrained inside israel and the settlement movement has become emboldened. this judicial reform, overhaul, whatever you want to call it, this process is not new. it began back in 2009,2010. and i reset it began is the right wing didn't want to see -- the reason it began was because the right wing didn't want to see anybody putting the brakes on any israeli activity. they wanted to make sure that the settlements could continue to grow, that israeli action could be unchecked, and that's where we are today. so, unless we get to a point where israeli society is not just recognizing the connection between this judicial overhaul process and the occupation, but actually doing something about it, not just protesting, but

actually demanding an end to the occupation, i am afraid we will continue to see this type of legislation go forward because the settlement bloc is now one of the largest blocs that exists within the israeli electorate. and it is only continuing to grow because it has never seen a red light from anyone around the world or around the country. adrian: judy, just to play devil's advocate for a moment, there are those who would argue that the supreme court is an unelected elite. they take decisions along liberal lines and not according to the way that many people in israel think or vote. the law's supporters, it is long overdue. is it simply the way in which it has been done and the makeup of the government that has implemented that people are upset about here, not the rationale behind it? guest: i think the way it has been done is what has upset people. you will see a lot of people at the protests, particularly

people from the right wing in israel, the more moderate right wing, who will say, "i also believe there is room for improvement." for example, many people believe that the supreme court is too ashkenazi. too elitist. that there aren't enough representatives of miz rahi jews, or the arab society in the supreme court. i think a lot of people would might agree with that and probably do. it was the way they went about this. the fact that this was never an issue in the last election campaign. we had elections on november 1. this was never an issue. the likud ran on a campaign of more security, lowering the cost

of living. no talk about a judicial overhaul or reform or whatever you want to call it. i think it is the way they did it. it was this attitude, "ah, we finally have enough people to create a full right wing government. we don't need the left. we don't need the center. now, we can do whatever we want." adrian: which is not democracy, of course. one thought, to what extent is netanyahu really the driving seat here. is he riding a roller coaster that he can't control now, having formed a coalition with these extreme right wing political groups? guest: some people will tell you now that he really is out of control. as you probably heard, he is not well physically right now, he just had a pacemaker put in, a week after he passed out,

claiming to have been dehydrated. if you look at him, he doesn't look to be in very good health right now. and yesterday, he basically capitulated -- there was talk of a possible compromise that could have prevented all of this. and he basically capitulated to the very, very, very far right fringe of his government, for warned him that if he didn't go through with this legislation, they would pullout. he was afraid that if they would pullout, there would be any election. but most of us know that his far-right partners, they have no alternative either. it's not like they will hook up with the left or the center here and form an alternative government. they need him just like he needs them. is he in control? it doesn't look like it right now -- he knew what he was doing

when he appointed some of these extremely radical, extremist characters to very, very important positions in his cabinet. he had to have known that. adrian: let's talk about the impact this deal will have on palestinians living under constant israeli oppression. it's going to make it easier for the government to pursue policies that harm palestinians, isn't it? and of course, palestinians won't be able to mount challenges in the supreme court. but does that matter, given that the court has so rarely come down on the side of palestinians anyway? guest: yeah, we noticed in the last 10 years that the israeli supreme court regarding the palestinian cases inside the green line, became very, very conservative and mostly denied cases of palestinian citizens. in fact, the attack against the islamic supreme court by the right wing has been strongly the

last 10 years. that made the supreme court to be more political in deciding palestinian cases, meaning to be more political than to consider what is the political effect of its decision on the israeli public. this is why we can explain that many of the cases were denied by the israeli supreme court. that the israeli supreme court doesn't want to be seen and received as pro-palestinian by the israeli right wing, and also doesn't want to empower the right wing with arguments against the status of the israeli supreme court. especially when we speak about a society where discrimination

against palestinians is institutional. this is why the palestinians paid the price of the critique against the israeli supreme court in the last 10 years. thus, we are not going to feel that the situation becomes totally different tomorrow than yesterday. because we already left the situation off political court, for them deciding cases. the political situation is easier for the supreme court to accept cases for us. when it is difficult, the supreme court rejects s. i consider the supreme court really gives good remedy to our cases, those cases regarding the right of the palestinian to participate in elections of the

knesset. all the time the right wing tried to limit this right, we appealed to the supreme court and the israeli supreme court accepted those cases, those appeals. one explanation for the israeli supreme court is that, it is aware that if the palestinians want to be in the knesset, the knesset becomes for jews only. winning the supreme court will be perceived clearly as apartheid. the israeli jewish consensus will support those decisions because they want israel to continue to have the credibility internationally as a democratic state. the only aspect that breaks israel look as a democracy -- that makes israel look as a democracy is the treatment of

the palestinians. without that, clearly will be perceived as an apartheid state. regarding the merit, in the cases of us as palestinian citizens of israel, the supreme court examined what is reasonable and unreasonable based on the israeli jewish consensus, meaning if we asked the court to decide that there is an administrative position that israel is extremely unreasonable, the court must see it as unreasonable, but on its eyes only. adrian: sorry to interrupt you, time is tight here. i want to put a question to

diana. where is the palestinian leadership on this? why are they so quiet? guest: why are palestinians quiet? adrian: yeah. guest: because it doesn't, at the end of the day, concern as. if you are a palestinian who is living in this system, are asked to go to a protest and see a sea of israeli flags, this is the very flag of our oppression, of our dispossession. it is the flag that is put on the bulldozers. the flag that is used when houses are destroyed. it is the flag that gets blown over destroyed villages. this is not something palestinians want to be a part of, because this is an internal debate that they have to figure out for themselves. yes, we palestinians are affected because we are the most marginal of marginal groups. but, at the end of the day, we have been affected by this now for 75 years and the idea that somehow i'm supposed to protest in favor of democracy when i, as

a palestinian, have never seen a day of democracy or a day of self-determination living as a palestinian under israeli military rule, it is not only laughable, but actually kind of offensive. i think that the end of the day, the bigger issue is whether the international community is going to get involved. one thing that has been clear is that israel has been a country that has always tried to look as though it is legitimate and based on legality. now, we see that it is neither legitimate nor based on legality. and now is the time for the international community to step in and actually do something. this is why palestinians have been calling for boycotting israel, because we see that it's not legitimate, we see that it's not legal. and the only means that should be used is to actually ostracize israel. something, by the way, that the former israeli prime ministers are now calling for as well. adrian: judy, president biden

called the passing of the bill "unfortunate." 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, he said. ahead of the vote. and yet, they passed it anyway. does the opinion of the u.s. president, or the military aid and support it provides, count for nothing in israel these days? guest: it counts for nothing, as far as netanyahu is concerned. but in this regard, i want to say something interesting that i noticed for the first time at the protests, something he would have never seen before, signs that israelis are holding up, asking biden to make american aid -- -- the continuation of american aid conditional on netanyahu throwing out this judicial overhaul.

and i am telling you, this is a feeling that is shared by growing numbers in the progressive camp in israel. that it would not be such a bad thing if americans cut off aid now, if that is the thing that could force netanyahu's hand. adrian: hassan, do you think that is going to happen? guest: i think this will make many changes and will create -- hopefully, i am optimistic. ukad we are human rights meyer without a optimistic -- you can't be a human rights lawyer without being optimistic. the fact that now many israeli groups know and are aware that the international community

is significant and important to change internal policy. before, when we as a human rights organization advocated for international intervention, this was perceived as protests. but now they are protesting against the existence of this thing. some of them perceive it as anti-semitic. but today we are seeing that it is legitimate. adrian: i'm sorry again to cut you off. diana, we have about one minute left. one final question to you, you heard what judy was saying. you are talking about the time for international intervention is now. and judy was saying that people want to make u.s. aid conditional upon netanyahu doing the right thing. how should the international

community intervene? who should be intervening? guest: they could interview by boycotting israel. the fact that they are looking at this with concern, people making the same calls, means that the environment is right to hold israel to account. it can do so by imposing sanctions, by boycotting this government. we have said it from that since the beginning of when this government was first elected, including based on the individuals who were there, and yet, the world continues to stay silent. if there is a time, it is now. adrian: ok, many thanks indeed. thank you to you all diana , buttu, judy maltz and hassan jabareen for being with us today. as always, thank you for watching. you can see the program again at that going to the website aljazeera.com. , for further discussion, join us on our facebook page. you will find that at facebook.com/ajinsidestory. and, of course, you can join the conversation on twitter, our handle @ajinsidestory. from me, adrian fineghan and the team here in doha, we will see you again. bye for now. ♪

- [mother perry] people might not express it, but there's gonna be a change in somebody's life. that's what i'm working for. that somebody would just stand up in that congregation and tell god thank you. i've been saying, ♪ keep yourself prayed up. [ambient music] - [male announcer]: support for reel south is provided by: