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New old Prime Minister: Benjamin Netanyahu
Photo: GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP
More than 1,000 senior Israeli Air Force veterans, including a former Israeli chief of staff, have urged the country's top judicial officials to crack down on the new government.
In a letter to the head of the Supreme Court and other top officials, they said the alliance of religious and ultra-nationalist parties threatened Israel's future.
The letter was handed over to the new government a few days before it took office.
“We come from all walks of life and across the political spectrum,” it says.
"What we have in common today is the fear that the democratic state of Israel is in danger." The judiciary is "the last line of defense" and must "do everything in their power to stop the catastrophe affecting the country «.
The nearly 1,200 signatories include Dan Halutz, who served as military chief from 2005 to 2007, former Air Force commander Avihu Ben-Nun, and Amos Yadlin, a former head of military intelligence.
All three were once fighter pilots.
From prison back to the cabinet
Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ultra-Orthodox and far-right partners won a parliamentary majority in the November 1 elections.
While coalition negotiations are ongoing, Netanyahu has struck a slew of deals that would give his right-wing partners powers over the national police and settlement building in the occupied West Bank.
Netanyahu and his allies are pushing for legislation that would allow a politician jailed for bribery to serve as a cabinet minister while on probation for another tax offense conviction.
They are also expected to push ahead with a series of changes in the legal system that critics say will weaken the judiciary and potentially result in charges against Netanyahu being dropped.
Netanyahu is expected to return to office as head of his new government on Thursday.
czl/dpa