What we’re watching: Israel’s mass protests against corruption, Sweden’s NATO own target
Israelis protest proposed changes to judiciary
Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and Beersheba on Saturday to protest the legal changes proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu’s new government, the country’s most far-right ruling coalition to date. While demonstrations have been going on for weeks, more than 100,000 gathered in Tel Aviv this weekend in the biggest rally yet to oppose proposed judiciary changes they fear will weaken the High Court of Justice’s power and independence. The changes were proposed because Bibi’s government believes the Supreme Court is biased against it and interfering with its ability to govern, and the prime minister is vowing to push through the reforms despite the outcry. On Sunday, Bibi finally arrives dismissed key ally Aryeh Deri as interior and health minister, days after the Supreme Court ruled he was ineligible to hold a senior cabinet post because of a previous criminal conviction. Deri is the head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, whose members had threatened to turn away from Bibi’s shaky government if the prime minister fired their leader. Just a few weeks later, this is another sign that Bibi will have a hell of a time keeping hers coalition together.
Do you need a service from Turkey? Do not burn the Koran.
Sweden is struggling to limit the political fallout from Saturday far-right Koran-burning protest outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, which sparked demonstrations near the Swedish consulate in Istanbul the next day. Given that the demonstration was authorized by the government, Turkey had already suspended bilateral talks before the demonstration and will now not accept Sweden’s condemnations of what Ankara claims is an Islamophobic hate crime. The burning of the Koran gives Turkish President Racip Tayip Erdogan nationalistic fodder vote in May or June, as well as extra leverage with other NATO member states, all of whom hope Ankara will relent. The Turks have used joint bid of Finland and Sweden to join NATO – which requires unanimous approval – to force the two countries to tighten laws allowing Turkish and Kurdish dissidents to go there. Now expect Erdogan to do so delay their consent even longer — perhaps until after the election.