Netherlands Supreme Court blocks lawsuit over Gaza airstrike
The Supreme Court of the Netherlands affirmed on Friday that Palestinians are precluded from bringing legal action against Israeli military officers for their involvement in an airstrike on the Gaza Strip dated back to 2014. The highest Dutch court upheld the decisions of lower court judges, ruling that former chief of hte General Staff Benny [...]
Israel, Counter-Terrorism, and International Law: The Analytic Challenges of 'System'
“The existence of `system’ in the world is obvious to every observer of nature, no matter whom.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Phenomenon of Man (1959) Whether conspicuous or obscure, terrorism generally presents itself as a systemic challenge. This means, inter alia, that seemingly singular strategic and legal matters may actually be many-sided and interrelated. Regarding legal issues, though [...]
Israeli law students are reporting for JURIST on law-related developments in and affecting Israel. This dispatch is from Mayan Lawent, a law student in the Buchmann Faculty of Law at Tel Aviv University and a JURIST Staff Correspondent in Israel. On Monday, July 24th, a highly controversial bill curtailing the reasonableness doctrine was passed in [...]
US and European allies condemn Knesset passage of judicial reform bill
US President Joe Biden expressed disappointment on Monday over the Israeli Knesset’s passage of the judicial reform bill. In a statement released from the White House, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on behalf of the President, “It is unfortunate that the vote today took place with the slimmest possible majority.” The controversial bill, which seeks [...]
Knesset Passage of 'Reasonableness Amendment' Still Leaves Room for Democratic Dialogue in Israel
Israel took a significant step closer to a constitutional crisis on July 24, 2023, when the controversial “Reasonableness Amendment” passed its final readings in the Israeli Parliament (the Knesset), becoming law by a 64-0 vote that occurred while the opposition left the Knesset in protest. The amendment aims to reshape the grounds for judicial review [...]
Foundations of Nuclear War Avoidance: An Intellectual and Legal Challenge
“It must not be forgotten that it is perhaps more dangerous for a nation to allow itself to be conquered intellectually than by arms.” —Guillaume Apollinaire, “The New Spirit and the Poets” (1917) Nuclear weapons remain unique in the history of warfare and corresponding international law. Even a single instance of nuclear war-fighting could signify [...]
Israel dispatch: Knesset passes reform bill to repeal reasonableness standard, weakening judiciary
Sharon Basch is an Israeli American who lived in Israel before starting her JD at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she is a rising 2L. Following seven months of protests the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) Monday passed the first of its proposed and highly controversial reform bills. The bill seeks to restrict the [...]
Israel Bar Association petitioning Supreme Court to cancel reasonableness law if passed in Knesset
Chairman-elect of the Israel Bar Association Amit Bechar said in a live-streamed meeting Sunday the Association will petition the Israeli Supreme Court to cancel the Israeli Knesset’s decision on the “reasonableness doctrine” if the reform passes in a vote expected Monday. Bechar also announced that the Bar Association may cease providing services to its members [...]
Israeli law students are reporting for JURIST on law-related developments in and affecting Israel. This dispatch is from Mayan Lawent, a law student in the Buchmann Faculty of Law at Tel Aviv University and a JURIST Staff Correspondent in Israel. Last Thursday, July 11, the Israeli Knesset voted for curtailing the application of the so-called [...]
Israel’s Knesset voted Monday to advance a bill seeking to restrict the Supreme Court’s powers by limiting their ability to overrule governmental decision-making. Having cleared its first reading, the bill must now be passed through two more Knesset votes before becoming law. The bill at issue is Netanyahu’s ruling coalition’s new “scaled down” reform bill, [...]
