Public Comment

Former president Donald Trump is under indictment in two federal matters with an election just around the corner, while Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under indictment for felony-corruption for bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Netanyahu's game plan for overcoming his legal problems echoes that of Donald Trump.

If re-elected, Trump will probably pardon himself and/or have his newly appointed attorney general move to dismiss the case or cases against him.

While Trump packed the U.S. Supreme Court with ultra-conservative judges, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin’s far-right governing coalition went a step further by voting to strip the court’s power to override “unreasonable” government actions.

This legislation would reduce the power of the court and upset the balance of power between the legislature and the Supreme Court. As Netanyahu's far-right coalition controls the legislature, the legislation gives Netanyahu control of the Israeli government.  

In addition, Likud, Netanyahu’s party, introduced a draft law that would strip the attorney general of the authority to oversee the prosecution of government ministers — including the prime minister. If passed, the law could affect Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial, transferring supervision of the prosecution to a different official, the state attorney, who could decide to reassess the decision to pursue charges. 

Unlike the United States, Israel does not have a constitution establishing three co-equal branches of government — Executive, Legislative and Judiciary. The best-known power is the power of judicial review, or the ability of the Court to declare a Legislative or Executive act in violation of the Constitution. Although this authority is not found within the text of the U.S. Constitution itself, the Court established this doctrine in the case of Marbury v. Madison (1803). 

Israel’s Supreme Court, however, said that it would review this new law that reduces its powers and gives the legislative branch too much power. This review sets the stage for a constitutional crisis if the Court ends up overturning this legislation that allows the legislature to overrule government decisions that it finds lack “reasonableness,” a term never defined in a Israeli statute. 

Netanyahu like Trump hopes he can overcome his legal problems regardless of such obstacles as democracy, rule of law and societal norms. The democracies in both countries are at peril.