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Queen’s University professor Oded Haklai, a visiting scholar at Harvard’s Center for Jewish Studies, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed changes to the judiciary are part of a transition to authoritarianism in the country at a Harvard Law School event on Thursday.
Haklai, an expert on Israeli politics and ethnic conflict, argued that Netanyahu’s government is engaging in a long-term process to “reshape the character of Israel's political regime” by placing new restrictions on the country’s supreme court.
“This is really a much broader process of entrenching authoritarianism, which can be traced back to previous decades, long before the judicial overhaul plan was introduced,” Haklai said.
The Tuesday event, which was hosted by the Julis-Rabinowitz Program on Jewish and Israeli Law, was moderated by Daniel Ziblatt, director of the Center for European Studies and professor of government.
The overhaul, started by Netanyahu in Jan. 2023, restricts the country’s highest court from conducting judicial reviews of Israel’s quasi-constitution and requires the committee tasked with appointing judges maintain a majority of representatives from his governing coalition. The plan was put on hold by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and has been the subject of prolonged protest movements in the country.
Haklai said Israel’s political system lacks the necessary institutional checks required to prevent authoritarianism. This vulnerability, Haklai said, can result in a “particularly strong” executive.
He also said Israel lacks a strong constitution because it relies on a set of basic laws that can be enacted and abolished under regular legislation. As a result, 27 amendments were passed in Israel between 2015 and 2023.
“That’s how many amendments have been passed in the American Constitution since 1789,” Haklai said.
At the Tuesday event, Haklai cited two recent laws that limited the funding of left-leaning non-governmental organizations and regulated media in Israel as evidence of the gradual overreach.
Strict management of Israeli media, Haklai said, could create “mouthpieces” for Netanyahu’s government.
“Imagine a situation that you have for the equivalent of Fox News, but without there being any capacity to launch an MSNBC,” he added.
—Staff writer Caroline G. Hennigan can be reached at caroline.hennigan@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @cghennigan.
