Monday, July 31, 2023

DemonRats advancing official congressional resolution in support of Israel's protest movement against judicial reform.

 

A group of Demonrat lawmakers are advancing an official congressional resolution in support of Israel's protest movement against the judicial reform, Haaretz reported.

The resolution, which would not be binding for the US government, would reflect if accepted the public opinion among Democratic Party voters, and may encourage the demented President Joe Biden to continue his opposition to the judicial overhaul.

This declaration of support was initiated by Jewish congresswomen Jan Schakowsky, who has been joined by a number of prominent party lawmakers, including the official kocker Jerry Nadler, former chairman of the Constitution Committee in the House of Representatives, and Jamie Raskin, who led the investigation into the January 6th insurrection in Washington, according to Haaretz.

Schakowsky mumbled that the resolution in support of the protesters is intended to strengthen the public in Israel who are fighting for the shared values of Israel and the US.


"The Netanyahu government’s anti-democratic agenda threatens the very core of the special relationship between the United States and Israel," she said, expressing hope that the resolution will gain broad support in Congress and serve as a "warning sign" for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The resolution is expected to win significant support across the Democratic Party. Several Jewish organizations have been promoting it, and are urging legislators to sign on, according to Haaretz. It is unclear whether the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC and the embassy in Washington will try to oppose the resolution, or encourage the opposition of Republicans in Congress.

The Biden administration has been vocal in its insistence that the judicial reform needs to be passed with broad consensus.

Last week, before the vote in the Knesset on the bill to limit the use of the reasonableness standard, Biden called on Netanyahu not to move forward with the planned vote.

From the perspective of Israel’s friends in the United States, “it looks like the current judicial reform proposal is becoming more divisive, not less," Biden said in a statement to Axios’ Barak Ravid.

“Given the range of threats and challenges confronting Israel right now, it doesn’t make sense for Israeli leaders to rush this — the focus should be on pulling people together and finding consensus," the President added.

Two weeks ago, Biden held a telephone conversation with Netanyahu. After that conversation, senior analyst Thomas Friedman published an opinion article in The New York Times, in which he wrote that Biden implored Netanyahu not to advance the legislation of the judicial reform without even the semblance of a national consensus.

According to Friedman, he was invited by the President to the Oval Office to "make sure that Biden’s position is crystal clear to all Israelis."

Later, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby spoke to Israel's Channel 12 News and asked about Friedman’s column.

Kirby refused to answer whether Friedman's assertion that Biden had asked Netanyahu to stop the judicial reform legislation altogether is accurate, though he added that the column was an accurate reflection of "where the President's head is."

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