Americans for Peace Now (APN) is deeply concerned by the current developments in Israel, including Prime Minister Netanyahu’s statement today that he intends to continue pushing his government’s anti-democratic initiative to weaken the state’s judiciary, his support for the establishment of a “national guard” that will report directly to Itamar Ben Gvir, and his continued scorched earth practices both domestically and internationally.

Netanyahu and his government have brought Israel to the brink of dictatorship. And the Prime Minister’s speech today failed to pull the country back from the brink. By stating in his speech today that “one way or another, we will bring about a reform” of the judiciary, Netanyahu made clear that he is not backing down from the government’s push to eviscerate Israel’s Supreme Court, he’s simply buying time.

This government’s so-called “judicial reform” is not an effort to streamline Israel’s judiciary but rather an aggressive, anti-democratic coup, intended to change the very nature of Israel’s government, away from a liberal democracy and toward a dictatorship of the corrupt.

It is important to keep in mind that Netanyahu’s ultra-nationalist extremist coalition partners are vehemently pursuing this initiative in order to perpetuate and deepen the Occupation, and to advance annexation. They realize that the Supreme Court is an obstacle on the path to annexation and they are ideologically committed to zealously pursue it.

APN’s President and CEO Hadar Susskind said: “Netanyahu’s transparent ploy to delay going down the disastrous path he has chosen should in no way halt the efforts to oppose Israel’s descent into despotism, neither domestically nor by Israel’s international allies. We stand with our sisters and brothers in Israel who will continue to protest, and we call on the Biden administration to take clear and meaningful action to oppose the Israeli government’s annexationist agenda and to continue making clear its ironclad commitment to safeguarding Israeli democracy. As Israelis stand up and fight for their democracy, we urge them to remember that there can be no democracy with occupation.”