A year ago, the debate between Israel’s government and its judiciary over the nature of its democracy began, leading to months of division and mass public protests. Following the horrors of October 7th, those issues receded into the background as the country united behind the shared goals of defeating Hamas, rescuing the hostages held in Gaza, and preventing a multi-front war. Yet 2024 began with Israel’s Supreme Court justices, in a narrow 8 to 7 decision, ruling that the reasonableness law passed by the Knesset over the summer undermines Israel’s democratic character and asserting 13 to 2 the court’s right in principle to strike down Basic Laws. What is the significance of these rulings? As the war with Hamas continues, how much attention have they received? How likely is it that the debates over Israel’s judiciary will resume and the divisions reemerge? Or has Israel simply moved on?
Join the Baltimore Jewish Council as we welcome Haviv Rettig Gur, Senior Analyst with the Times of Israel, for a conversation about all this and more on Thursday, January 18th at 11:30am.
Questions? Contact Kate McDonald: kmcdonald@baltjc.org
