TABLET MAG
Israel’s Deep State Is Worse Than America’s
Moshe Cohen-Eliya
March 25, 2025

…Outside observers, particularly in the West, often describe Israel’s legal crisis as a power grab by a radical right-wing government. The truth is the opposite. For years, unelected officials in Israel’s judiciary, security services, and legal bureaucracy have amassed extraordinary powers to override elected decision-makers. Israel has become the only Western constitutional democracy in which judges have veto power over judicial appointments, the attorney general controls the government’s legal voice, and intelligence chiefs act as constitutional guardians. The result is a crisis of legitimacy—and a growing confrontation between the institutions of popular sovereignty and what can only be described as a deep state. READ MORE

JPOST Knesset approves dramatic judicial selection committee bill The Knesset approved on Thursday a bill proposal that dramatically amends the committee responsible for electing Israel’s judges, by increasing political involvement in judicial appointments at the expense of professional involvement. The bill is a watered-down version of one of the central components of the government’s 2023 judicial reforms, and marks a significant achievement for the reforms architect…According to the new proposal, which will apply beginning with the next Knesset, the two IBA [Israel Bar Association] members will be replaced by two “public representatives”, one appointed by the coalition and the other by the opposition.