Amichai Chikli, Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combatting Antisemitism, was met by pro-democracy demonstrators denouncing the Israeli government’s plan for a judicial overhaul when he visited Brussels on Monday.
As was the case last time, when an Israeli minister visited Brussels, journalists were not allowed to attend the meeting with him. In mid-June, Israeli Defence Minister Joav Gallant came to Brussels to attend a gathering of NATO defence ministers. He also met the local Jewish community in Brussels to explain his government’s plan for a controversial judicial reform in the country.
The reform has been met with mass demonstrations in Israel since January that still continue. According to the political opposition and the protest movement, the reform should rather be called a judicial coup because of its far-reaching consequences for the rule of law in the country and the way the government has been trying to push it through without any broad consensus agreement.
Chikli tweeted after his visit this week that he visited the European Parliament where he met MEPs and the EU coordinator on combatting antisemitism. “We talked about the necessary steps in the fight against antisemitism and the importance of preserving the memory of the Holocaust.”
His visit came only days after the Israeli minister of education had tried to dismiss the chairman of the World Holocaust Center Yad Vashem in Jerusalem on alleged irregularities in the management of the institution.
The EU Coordinator on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life, Katharina von Schnurbein, twitted that, “Yad Vashem is a key partner for the EU when it comes to Holocaust research. Its expertise and independence of its leadership are essential in times of Holocaust distortion and attempts to politicise Shoah remembrance.”
Benjamin Beeckmans, chairman of the Jewish Secular Community Center in Brussels (CCLJ), told The Brussels Times that the meeting with Amichai Chikli was attended by representatives of Belgian-Israeli friendship organisations and Jewish organisations in Belgium representing the whole spectrum of religious and political views.
Earlier this year, he demonstrated against the Israeli government’s judicial plan and appealed to EU leaders to support the same values and rights in Israel as elsewhere in the EU. What made him agree to attend the meeting with an Israeli minister who has a record of political opportunism and wholeheartedly supports the judicial overhaul?
'Heading towards an illiberal democracy'
“There are worse ministers in the government,” he said, referring to the finance minister and the national security minister, both belonging to a far-right religious party with a record of racist statements. Their party insists on the judicial overhaul and the undermining of the independence and scrutiny of the Supreme Court to get a free hand to annex the West Bank.
“My voice and criticism was needed to be heard also from the inside in a direct discussion with an Israeli minister. We can discuss without having to agree. It’s a setting which should allow for questions and answers. Chikli recognised our right to demonstrate against him.”
But he admitted that the meeting never developed to a real dialogue. “I expressed my disappointment over the course Israel has taken under the current government. It’s shattering our dreams about Israel. It has become a ‘normal country’, much more divided and polarised than Belgium, heading towards becoming an illiberal democracy.”
The constitutional crisis in Israel will reach a crucial junction on 12 September when the full 15-member Supreme Court will convene to hear appeals against the government’s amendment of a ‘basic law’ which abolished the court’s right to apply the reasonableness criterion against arbitrary decisions, without a legal basis, taken by the government and ministers.
If the court strikes down the amendment, as is expected, it will be the first time it has struck down a basic law. If the government refuses to comply with such a ruling, as it might do, it will be the first time it has disobeyed the court. A recent attempt to renew to the talks under the auspices of the Israeli president to find a last-minute compromise solution has failed.
M. Apelblat
The Brussels Times
