Israel

26 July 2023; MEMO: Over 1,000 Israeli physicians plan to leave Israel and work abroad after the passing of the reasonableness law, the Israeli Medical Association said yesterday.

"The vast majority of physicians know they will not be able to fulfill their oath to patients under a regime that does not accept the role of reason," AP reported Hagai Levine, chairman of the Israeli Association of Public Health, saying.

26 July 2023; MEMO: Far-right Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir yesterday warned the Supreme Court against repealing the "reasonableness law," Hebrew media reported.

"If the Supreme Court repealed the law, it would be a coup attempt," he said, stressing that "the Supreme Court is not above everything." Adding that he hoped the Supreme Court "does not commit this mistake."

24 July 2023; MEMO: A Washington Post columnist warned on Sunday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the "biggest security threat" facing Israel.

24 July 2023; MEMO: The faculty members of four Israeli universities yesterday announced a strike to protest the Israeli government's plan to pass the controversial judicial overhaul plan, Israeli Walla news site reported.

24 July 2023; MEMO: Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who has called for a compromise on judicial reform legislation, said today that the country "is in a state of national emergency."

"We are working around the clock, in every possible way, to find a solution. The infrastructure for a possible understanding exists, yet gaps remain that require the various parties to show responsibility," the president said.

24 July 2023; MEMO: An Israeli military source revealed yesterday that dozens of soldiers are rejecting military service in protest against the  judicial overhaul plan being pursued by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right coalition, local media reported.

24 July 2023; MEMO: A group of filmmakers, including Oscar winner Jane Campion and Basque filmmaker Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren, have requested their films be withdrawn from Israel's Jerusalem Film Festival.

25 July 2023; MEMO: Chief of Staff of Israeli Army Herzi Halevi yesterday called for stopping attacks on Israeli troops who protest against the government's planned judicial overhaul, Hebrew media reported.

During a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Halevi said members of the coalition should stop "disparaging" pilots as they have been doing.

JERUSALEM, July 24 (Reuters) - Israel's parliament on Monday ratified the first bill of a judicial overhaul sought by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after last-gasp compromise efforts collapsed and failed to ease a constitutional crisis convulsing the country for months.

The amendment to a law enabling the Supreme Court to void some government decisions if it deemed them "unreasonable" passed by a 64-to-0 vote after opposition lawmakers abandoned the session in protest, some of them shouting: "For shame!"

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was released from the hospital Monday after an emergency heart procedure and now faces an unprecedented national crisis ahead of parliament’s vote on the first major piece of legislation to remake the country’s justice system.

Demonstrators, many of whom feel the very foundations of their country are being eroded by the government’s plan, stepped up their opposition, blocking a road leading up to parliament. Businesses shuttered their doors to protest the vote.