In an interview with the website of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, Dr. Mehdi Ashna referred to the intensification of the protests of the residents of the occupied territories following the decision of Netanyahu and his extremist coalition to approve a plan to make radical changes in the judicial structure of the Zionist regime, noting: Theoretically, there are different views about the project called “judicial reform” in the Zionist regime. This issue, in principle, is to monitor the separation of powers and to clarify the position and the process of establishing a balance between them.

Saying that supporters of this plan claim that the judiciary, as unelected people, now has more power in this structure, he added: The Minister of Justice of that regime believes that unelected people, in the way of implementing the policies and votes of representatives of the Knesset and the government, as selected people create obstacles; policies and votes that the elected officials want to advance are in accordance with the wishes of the society and their vote base. On the other hand, the opponents emphasize that the judiciary does not entirely ignore the people’s will, as the government and supporters of the plan have argued, but defends the rights of minorities under certain conditions.

The analyst of West Asia affairs, referring to some objections of the Supreme Court of the Zionist regime to the Knesset and government votes, continued: Supporters of the plan do not have much evidence of the Supreme Court’s inappropriate use of its powers, and the use of this right was done on a case-by-case and limited basis, but on the other hand, critics say that by trying to implement this plan, the extreme rightists are trying to protect themselves against their illegal actions, and especially Netanyahu wants to close the existing corruption cases against him with those changes.

Saying that the opponents and supporters of this plan evaluate their efforts in line with the implementation of democratic values, Ashna explained: The government considers the opposition of the judiciary to advance its plans as being against democratic values, but on the other hand, there is an opinion that the judiciary is more in pursuit of that the dictatorship of the majority will not be formed, and the interests of the minority be protected.

Saying that the politicized state of such challenges is more important than their theoretical dimensions, he continued: Now, in the Zionist regime, we are witnessing the formation of political polarization and strong social protests. Even in the army, pilots and reservists have threatened not to serve in the army. In the past weeks, tens of thousands of people organized daily street protests, which in some cases were accompanied by violence. Activists in the education and economic sectors, especially in the advanced technology sector, announced they would stop their educational and commercial activities in occupied Palestine and leave those lands.

The analyst of West Asia affairs, while pointing to the prospect of continuing protests in the occupied territories, stated that the situation has become complicated for Netanyahu, but he and the rightists are still determined to advance their plan; said: The first stage of judicial reforms had four components; among others, regarding the method of selecting judges, based on which, the composition of the committee that selected judges is supposed to be changed in such a way that politicians and members of the ruling coalition have the majority in it and are decisive in selecting judges.

Ashna added: According to another component of this plan, the official authorization of the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction must be obtained from the Knesset, and the Knesset can reject the jurisdiction of this court to invalidate laws with 61 votes. Also, the removal of the “reasonableness condition” based on which the reasonableness of the cabinet’s laws and decisions had to be checked by the judiciary, as Netanyahu’s first step, has been carried out so far.

Saying that the fourth component of this plan is related to the legal advisors of the ministers, he continued: According to Netanyahu’s intended reforms, the status of these legal advisors is supposed to be seen as the personal appointments of the ministers so that the ministers can easily remove and install them. All these show that the independence of the judges and the Supreme Court is being limited to some extent, so the protests have become more intense.

The West Asia expert pointed to the criticisms and pressures of the Biden administration against the implementation of this plan with the aim of creating a consensus between the government and the opposition and stated: In the meeting where the reasonableness criterion was approved, even though 56 members of the Knesset left the meeting and did not participate in the voting at all, but 64 members of the ruling coalition who were present in the Knesset approved it, regardless of the 56 members leaving the meeting. This situation shows that the bipolarity will continue and intensify, and the two sides will not simply retreat.

Dr. Ashna added: We will continue to witness the escalation of tensions in the internal field of the regime and political polarizations and social divisions, which can have negative consequences in the security, social, economic, and foreign relations of that regime. In terms of military and security, the current situation can affect the willingness to volunteer to serve in the army, cohesion, mutual trust within teams and their relationships with commanders, faith in Zionist ideals, and as a result, the ability of security institutions to face threats.

The analyst of West Asia affairs called the reduction of social resilience, the intensification of international political isolation, and economic vulnerability among the consequences of the internal tensions of the Zionist regime and said: With the intensification of political polarization, many have raised the possibility of a coup d’état in the regime, and it is possible that people like Benny Gantz, who influence in the Ministry of War (Ministry of Defense) of the regime, may take measures. Although the military has always acted beyond political differences, at this point, pilots, reservists, and influential people in the military have threatened to oppose those reforms. Therefore, the analysis of the weak possibility of a coup cannot be underestimated.

Ashna stated that the protest violence will intensify in the occupied territories and continued: Similar values and the realization of democracy as a common feature has been an issue through which American politicians could justify their support of the Zionist regime from the perspective of their society. If the Zionist regime carries out reforms in such a way that this value is harmed in the eyes of its general audience and the American people, it is considered a violation of Western values. Naturally, American support for the regime may decrease.

At the same time, he reminded: The US has shown that it will also support dictatorial regimes if its interests require it. Therefore, even if the Zionist regime is the most authoritarian regime in the region, but it is in line with the interests of the United States, and it will continue to benefit from the support of the US.