Israel’s Supreme Court strikes back

AT ANY OTHER time it would have provoked a constitutional crisis. For much of 2023 Israelis had taken to the streets to protest against the government’s efforts to weaken the power of judges to overrule the government, a step many saw as an attack on Israel’s democracy. Yet when on January 1st Israel’s highest court struck down the judicial-reform law passed just six months earlier, most Israelis shrugged. Since Hamas attacked in October, killing or kidnapping some 1,400 people and sparking a war in Gaza, Israelis have had bigger issues to worry about. Even so, the ruling is a notable blow to the right-wing government led by Binyamin Netanyahu, and its ramifications will be felt long after the fighting in Gaza has ended.