During my family's recent visit to Israel, we spent time with my brother in Haifa, who gave one of my daughters a "Guardians of Democracy" T-shirt worn by protesters who oppose the current government's plans to constrain judicial power. We also spent time with my sister in Gush Etzion, a bloc of settlements near Jerusalem, who casually referred to such protesters as "anarchists."
Those characterizations, each misleading in its own way, reflect a disagreement about the proper role of courts in a democracy—a debate that echoes familiar arguments in the United States. Israel's version of that controversy, which has featured mass demonstrations that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sees as evidence of a nascent "civil war," is flaring up again as the Knesset, Israel's parliament, considers a bill that would bar the Israeli Supreme Court from blocking legislation based on a lack of "reasonableness." That proposal, while less radical than bills that would virtually eliminate judicial review, encapsulates the issues raised by the determination of Netanyahu's coalition partners to restrict the court's authority.
