September 5

👉🏽 The court just denied Coalition requests for a delay of the Unreasonableness hearing. It is set to proceed September 12 as scheduled.

👉🏽 Worldwide, the Israeli shekel is the currency that has weakened most, down 10.34% against the US dollar, according to City Index. Globes reporting that Religious Zionism Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich asked the treasury to “prettify” the gloomy economic review and was refused, so he appended an addendum “hailing the government’s economic management.”

👉🏽 Expelling Eritrean refugees en masse is unlawful according to international law, UN tells Israel.

👉🏽 Walla reporting that PM Netanyahu meeting with Likud Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Likud Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer re possible judicial reform compromise. Levin has already announced his staunch opposition to a deal.

👉🏽 Haredi United Torah Judaism party may reconsider going forward with judicial reform, said United Torah Judaism Moshe Gafni at today’s a Knesset Finance Committee meeting. “I’m not sure this is the way. Maybe we will go on a different path.”

👉🏽 Maariv reporting that the court, following Likud Minister of Justice Yariv Levin’s request, has postponed the hearing on convening the judicial selection committee from Thursday to September 19.

👉🏽 Times of Israel reporting that Likud Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Jewish Power National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calling for Eritreans to be deported to - North Tel Aviv, presumably to irritate Supreme Court justices and left wingers who wouldn’t want them in their neighborhoods. Religious Zionism’s Simcha Rothman with a bill to severely limit immigration: Basic Law: Entry, immigration, and status in Israel, would be a set of immigration guidelines and annual quotas for anyone not eligible under the Law of Return. Those affected also would be barred recourse through the court system. Rothman said a basic law was needed because previous attempts at such legislation have been struck down by the courts.

👉🏽 “Likud made a mistake with the judicial reform,” Likud’s David Bitan said at the Israel Bar Association conference yesterday.
“Likud was harmed by this move, and it will continue to be harmed if we don’t reach broad agreements.” (JPost)

👉🏽 Both Coalition and Opposition were quick to debunk rumors that there were compromises afoot re judicial reform. The compromise that supposedly isn’t being discussed :) includes a watered-down unreasonableness clause; an 18-month freeze on restructuring the judicial selection committee and judge selection; and a requirement for seven of nine justices’ agreement on appointments including Supreme Court Chief Justice. Jewish Power and Religious Zionism have both announced they will reject any compromise, and a statement by protest leaders said opposition politicians “do not have a mandate for a bad compromise on democracy.” (Times of Israel)

👉🏽 Israel risks a brain drain because of judicial overhaul, according to a petition signed by 500 Israeli expat academics.

👉🏽 Chief Justice Esther Hayut denied Religious Zionism’s Simcha Rothman’s request that she recuse herself from the Unreasonableness hearing September 12 because of bias.

Updates by email at IsraelMachar.com

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