Tel Aviv Dairy August 4, 2023

Bibi's Media Blitz, Supreme Court Acts, Protest Continue, Terror in Maaleh Adumim, Trump and Bibi,History and Reviews

BIBI’S US MEDIA TOUR

This week, Prime Minister Netanyahu embarked on a series of interviews with major U.S. networks, including CNN and Fox. Most of the interviewers, with the exception of those from Fox, all posed insightful questions. However, these seasoned journalists fell short in providing follow-up queries when Netanyahu presented misleading statements or outright lies— for instance, when the PM equated the process of passing or altering Israel’s Basic Laws with a mere 61 Knesset votes to the complexity of amending the U.S. Constitution.

Despite his best efforts, Netanyahu managed to stir controversy in these interviews by declining to pledge he would adhere to a Supreme Court decision, should the court overturn the recently enacted law eliminating the reasonableness as a legal standard. Netanyahu’s refusal to affirm he’d abide by the court’s ruling drew swift criticism from both the opposition and protest movement leaders. Defense Minister Galant was the only government minister to clearly assert that Israel is a democracy committed to upholding its laws. Netanyahu, in contrast, seems oblivious to the harm he has inflicted on the nation.

SUPREME COURT STEPS IN

The Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing for September 12th, where the wider panel of justices will review the Reasonableness Law, marking the first time that all members are involved in reviewing a case together.

Meanwhile, two other controversial cases unfolded this week …

The first, known as the “Tveria” (Tiberias) case, revolved around a law which stated that an individual appointed as a city's receiver could not subsequently run for mayor. The “Tveria” law was recently altered by the Knesset, in a revision tailored to facilitate a bid for the Tiberias mayoral seat by a confidante of Arye Deri. The high court unanimously upheld the Knesset’s modification, however, ruled that implementation of this legislation must be postponed until the next election — asserting that immediate enforcement would constitute a “personal law,” crafted for the direct benefit of a specific individual. Accordingly, while the court did not overturn the law passed by the Knesset, it effectively annulled its intended purpose.

The second case was a petition brought by the Movement for Quality Government and other organizations, which calls for annulment of the changes passed by the Knesset to the Basic Law on Government that deals with the temporary removal of a Prime Minister. The Knesset’s extreme narrowing of this law was passed with lightening speed, after fears circulated in the coalition that the Attorney General planned to remove Netanyahu from office for violating the conflict of interest agreement the Prime Minister was forced to agree to as a condition for him taking office, despite his ongoing trial for corruption.

In an unusual move, the Attorney General (who usually defends the government position in cases like this) supported the petitioners, claiming that the change of the law was created expressly to allow Netanyahu to break his conflict of interest agreement without repercussion. Over the course of an almost five-hour hearing, the court heard arguments from both sides. The court made it clear that it accepted the premise that the law was created with one purpose in mind, i.e., to help Prime Minister Netanyahu avoid any consequences from his violation of his conflict of interest agreement, and that this constitutes the very essence of a “personal law”.  

Attempts by defenders of the restrictions to the temporary removal law claiming the legislation was a general purpose regulation, met with intense scorn from the justices. Defenders of the alteration were forced to agree that in their rush to pass the modification, the final wording of the new law remained problematic. 

The new law requires the Knesset Law Committee to approve the temporary removal of the PM to be approved by a two thirds vote (which would include a portion of the Opposition). The lack of an efficient process to temporarily replace an incapacitated Prime Minister became obvious when Netanyahu underwent surgery and briefly passed the power of his office to Justice Minister Levin. In this case, the matter was brought up for a vote after the fact — that vote failed.

The second major legal issue discussed in this hearing was the debate over whether the court has any standing to review a Basic Law. Over the course of the hearing, it became evident that Basic Laws are now far from the basis of a constitution, as was initially envisioned. During the past three years, 31 Basic Laws have been amended by the Knesset. Justices expressed a clear opinion that Basic Laws are subject to the review of the court, by the full panel of Supreme Court judges. It is up to the three judges who heard this initial case to decide if the matter at hand is important enough to be reviewed by the full court.  A decision will be handed down most likely next week. As the court was hearing the case government ministers attacked the court for even hearing a case dealing with a basic law. Public Diplomacy Minister Galit Atbaryan called the justices “enemies of democracy”, while Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Minister Amichahi Eliyahu called them ‘criminals in suits”

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DEMOCRACY PROTESTS

On Wednesday night, approximately 10,000 Israelis marched around Tel Aviv in solidarity with the court. This followed one of the largest weekly protest demonstrations, which occurred last Saturday night. Netanyahu, anticipating a quieter August with the Knesset on its summer recess, assumed the protests would lose momentum. However, the protest leaders have other plans, and demonstrations persist unabated. An increasing number of Army reservists have ceased volunteering.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE

Despite covering the action here for the past six months, it is challenging to fully grasp the transformations in Israel during this period — some changes have been positive, others negative. On the downside, societal divisions have intensified, particularly visible in the resentment harbored by sections of the Sephardic community towards what they term the “Ashkenazi elite”, who they associate with the courts. This rage has taken the mainstream Israeli community, many of whom are products of mixed Ashkenazi-Sephardi marriages, by surprise. It remains unclear how this clash can be resolved, especially given that much of the anger is rooted in perception rather than reality. However, perceptions are, in essence, often a person’s reality.

On a positive side, there has been the mobilization of a generation. One of the popular rally chants has been, “You’ve started up with the wrong generation.” Indeed, there's an entire generation of Israelis who were previously apathetic towards politics, content with living in a first-world country, often working for multinational companies or Israeli startups, and focusing on work and social life. The proposed overhaul of the judicial system and the fear of living in an autocratic state potentially governed by religious extremists has jolted them out of their indifference. They've been taking to the streets; turning up in their tens of thousands, and have expressed their commitment to the long-term cause. They have the potential to transform the political landscape of the country. 

Recent polls indicate a strong decline in support for Likud in the next election. However, I believe these polls understate the facts on the ground, since they are based on turnout from previous elections. The next election is likely to see major changes in voter participation.

Trump and Netanyahu: Parallel Journeys

Yesterday, former President Trump was indicted for the third time in recent months — this time for his alleged involvement in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential election. Over the past few years, I have penned numerous articles for Newsweek drawing comparisons between Trump and Netanyahu. At times, it's been challenging to discern who has been emulating whom. However, one thing is clear: both are causing immeasurable harm to the countries they were elected to lead. Both are facing indictments (Netanyahu is already on trial), and both seem willing to undermine their countries' judicial systems to evade justice. The most unsettling similarity is that both could probably negotiate a plea deal involving retirement from politics. Unfortunately, these two men in their 70s are too narcissistic to prioritize their nations' needs over their own perceived interests. Both appear to believe they are the only ones capable of rescuing their respective countries, when in fact, both seem to be steering their nations towards a precipice.

TERROR

On Tuesday, a terror attack occurred in Maaleh Adumim, situated outside Jerusalem on the road to the Dead Sea. The attack was executed by a lone gunman who worked in the town and came armed with his father's pistol. The attacker wounded six people in a restaurant and a parking lot before being shot by an off-duty border patrolman who was in the area getting a haircut to prepare for his first wedding anniversary dinner. On Wednesday, an Israeli car carrying a family was fired upon in the Northern Jordan Valley, with one passenger injured by flying glass. The assailants remain at large.

Following the terror attack in Maale Adumim, several coalition Knesset members criticized the Commander of the Central Command, General Yehuda Fuchs, alleging that he showed more concern for Palestinians than for the settlers. Defense Minister Galant swiftly condemned this attack on an army officer. Prime Minister Netanyahu, too, issued a statement on Wednesday evening, defending Fuchs and chastising members of his government who had assailed him.

FINANCE

The Bank of Israel has raised its risk assessment for the stability of the financial system due to the effects of the macroeconomic environment, (including the government attempt to change the judicial system) from a "medium-low" (yellow) level, where it had been until now, to a "medium-high" (orange) level. In the bank's Financial Stability Report for the first half of 2023, published this week, bank economists repeatedly note that the government's steps in the area of fiscal policy are the primary source of risk to financial stability in Israel and to damage to the economy.

The report includes a series of analyses on the Israeli economy, reflecting an increase in the level of risk to financial stability.

BUSINESS

Some good news … Amazon Web Services AWS has announced a major investment in Israel opening a major data center here.  AWS has had a long standing R&D center in Israel, but this is the first time Cloud Services will take place locally According to Amazon: “The Israel Region consists of three Availability Zones and offers in-country infrastructure to customers. The region will help Israeli organizations achieve the highest level of security, compliance and trust. AWS’s projected spending on the construction and operation of the new Region which will support an estimated of more than 7,700 full time.” 

Elbit Systems Ltd. announced that it was awarded a contract worth approximately $60 million to supply thousands of 155mm artillery shells to the Israeli Defense Forces' Artillery Corps. The contract will be performed over a period of one year. Equivalent jobs at external businesses annually, with a planned 26.6 billion ILS investment in Israel through 2037.

Dyantrace acquired cloud-native debugging platform Rookout the reported price was between 50-60 million. The company has raised a total of $28.2 million since it was founded. It’s expected that Rookout’s workforce of 47 employees will continue to work in Israel as a Dyantrace development center.

40Seas announced that it has raised an additional $6 million, bringing its seed round total to $17 million. Furthermore, 40Seas has a $100 million line of credit from international shipping company ZIM. The quick completion of the new round of funding reflects the rapid growth experienced by the company

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A Piece of History-Israel Assembles First Jet

The Israeli Arms industry has its origins early in the history of Yishuv, with the first product being hand grenades produced during World War I. In the 1930s, the Haganah established an official factory for producing grenades and later expanded to produce other explosives. By 1938, they were also manufacturing mortars. In 1943, Defense Industries began producing Sten guns (machine guns). During the War of Independence, the Military Industries developed an impressive list of armaments and, more importantly, ammunition. In 1950, an Israeli army officer named Uzi Gal developed a new machine gun known as the Uzi, which became ubiquitous and was the first Israeli arms to be exported and used worldwide.

In 1953, Israel Aircraft Industries was established. Originally, the company was set up as a repair facility and used by the air force and later by El Al for maintenance and repairs on their planes. In 1960, the Israeli air force was in need of a training aircraft and selected the French-made Fouga Magister. Aérospatiale granted IAI a license to produce the plane, and on July 7, 1960, IAI delivered the first plane to the air force.

THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT– OR, MY TREASURE”

Movie Review

In this installment of my intermittent series of Israeli film critiques, I watched “Or (My Treasure)” available on Netflix. Hailing from 2004, this raw, R-rated film plunges viewers into the depths of a visceral mother-daughter relationship unlike any other. The narrative centers on an aging prostitute, Ruthie, trapped in the grimy labyrinth of the sex industry, and her steadfast daughter, Or. “Or”, which literally means “light” in Hebrew, illuminates the shadows of their existence as she battles relentlessly to shield her mother from the cruel realities of streetwalking. This gritty representation of their struggles offers a rare glimpse into a lesser-known facet of Israeli society, making their story all the more poignant.

Directed by Keren Yedaya, “Or” )My Treasure( isn't simply an exploration of the world of prostitution, but also an examination of cyclical poverty and the maternal bonds that can be both a lifeline and a chain. It was not only critically acclaimed in Israel but also internationally, earning the Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004. In summary, “Or” (My Treasure) will leave you pondering long after the end credits roll.

A TASTE OF TEL AVIV — “HACHATZER SHEL GOLDMAN”

RESTAURANT REVIEW, by Tali Schulman

Nestled at Yafo's edge, Goldman Court, or החצר של גולדמן, shines as a cherished jewel of Tel-Aviv. Its Mediterranean menu, boasting an array of spreads, veggies, fish, and meats, caters to every palate and time of day. What truly distinguishes this establishment is its tranquil ambience, providing a serene escape from the city's hustle and bustle. The outdoor seating area offers a picturesque view of Yafo's port and the endless stretch of the Mediterranean Sea. Amidst the coastal charm of Tel-Aviv, this spot offers a remarkable vantage point – an ideal setting for enjoying coffee, drinks, snacks, and enjoying the breathtaking views. Visit Goldman’s Court for an experience that blends classic Mediterranean cuisine with the some of the best views Tel-Aviv has to offer

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For more Tel Aviv restaurant recommendations, you can find me on Instagram @talischulman where I save all my food adventures in my highlights!