Coalition is undermining its own argument for reform

One of the most striking aspects of Israel’s judicial reform crisis is the extent to which attitudes have hardened since the current government took office.

In January, just after Benjamin Netanyahu returned as prime minister, the polls showed some 70 per cent supporting the need for reform. It was, in other words, a mainstream view held by Israelis of differing politics.

Now, however, as the Supreme Court has begun its deliberations over the legality of the first tranche of the government’s interventions, the polls tell a very different story, with two diametrically opposed groups. Around a third are adamantly opposed to the reforms, while a quarter approve.

The reason for this divide is obvious: while the need for some sort of reform has long been a mainstream view, the actual reforms proposed by the government have been driven by the extremists on whose support Netanyahu’s majority depends.