The reduction of the reasonable grounds that passed last week caused a storm in Israel but also provoked quite a few reactions in the Arab world, including in the expatriate and refugee community in Europe. "Why does Netanyahu insist on being Pharaoh?" was the title of an article by commentator Mohammed Hirallah, an Egyptian exile currently living in Sweden.
In an article published on the Al Behemoth website, Girallah wrote: "Everyone knows the danger of tyranny – its catastrophe and its consequences, but its bitter taste is known only by those who have tasted its bitter taste. I was one of them and had to go into exile from my country to save my life. Today, Israel is the only democratic country in the Middle East. We were and still are struggling to become like her. So when her government has completed the first step on the road to the train of tyrannical states in the Middle East, this path is familiar."
The Knesset approved the cancellation of the reasonableness grounds // Photo: Knesset Channel
"Israeli democracy now faces a real danger that threatens the state existentially. Since the enactment of the Reduction of Reasonableness Law, the possibilities of civil war have arisen. In this sense, the date of passage of the law – 24 July 2023 – corresponds to 31 August 196, when Abdel Nasser carried out a 'massacre of the judicial system' in order to undermine it and institutionalize tyranny. 200 judges were then dismissed on charges of hostility to the July Revolution of 1952."
Saudi commentator Tariq Al-Hamid, who previously served as editor-in-chief of Asharq Al-Awsat (which is indirectly owned by the Saudi government), wrote in the article: "Over the years, Israel has been described as the only democratic country in the Middle East region and has therefore been a reliable ally of the U.S. and the West. But today, with the campaign for changes in the judicial system, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with Israeli opposition, the picture is changing."
"Today it can be said that Israel has surrendered to the rules of the game in the region and has become a Middle Eastern country par excellence. A third of voters vote for religious parties, while Netanyahu is scrambling to limit the powers and appointments of the judiciary. All this is happening in the name of 'democracy' even though Netanyahu's coalition is fragile and came (only) after several rounds of elections and amid real division in Israel and in the absence of a real majority supporting the abolition of the grounds of reasonableness. Netanyahu's Israel is going to implement the rules of the game in the region and open the doors of corruption."
King Salman, Photo: AP
Al-Hakim explained, "When I say 'region,' I mean countries that destroyed their stability under the pretext of 'wiping Israel off the map,' and used slogans of democracy when the situation got to what it got. Some will say, 'Did you mean the Arab Gulf states as well?' The answer: No (...), what the Gulf states, led by Saudi Arabia, want is stability and prosperity and building our countries amid waves of lies of nationalism and Islamism."
At the same time, the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper wrote that "reducing the grounds of reasonableness will significantly limit the possibilities of judicial oversight of the government and make it difficult for the Supreme Court to intervene in issues in which ministers make decisions on arbitrary, corrupt or extreme grounds contrary to human rights. Although we believe that Israel's system of government is not democratic but ethnocratic – and privileges the Jewish community – the Jewish community is the only one that benefits from elements of democratic governance – including the protection of the judicial system."
The coalition celebrates after the passage of the law to abolish the grounds of reasonableness // Photo: Yehuda Schlesinger
Finally, Jordanian commentator Ayman al-Haniti questioned the Knesset members' selfies after the passage of the reduction of reasonableness. "A victory selfie with the first decision of the laws of legal changes - reducing the cause of reasonableness. The picture that bothered many Israelis who began to ask – who is the acting prime minister – Netanyahu, Yariv Levin or Simcha Rothman?" he wrote.
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us