The ‘Only Democracy in the Middle East’ Steps Up Hate Campaign Against Breaking the Silence & Israeli Human Rights Organisations

As the Israeli state makes giant strides from a Jewish state to a Jewish Police State, so left-wing Israelis demonstrate in Tel Aviv.  There is no doubt that the Israeli left, the anti-war left, is extremely isolated today. 

When the Israeli Labour Party/Zionist Union leader, Isaac Hertzog, asked Benjamin Netanyahu to condemn incitement and threats against the Israeli President Rivlin, who is a Likud right-winger who supports the settlements and opposes giving back any land or a 2 state solution but nonetheless believes that Arabs are human beings and opposes racism,  Netanyahu responded by saying that Herzog should condemn ‘Breaking the Silence’.

Ha’aretz reported that Netanyahu's response was that Herzog, should "get up on this stage and condemn Breaking the Silence, an organization that is slandering IDF soldiers to audiences around the world and is working to tie the hands of the State of Israel from defending itself." At this point lawmakers began applauding.’  Herzog Calls on Netanyahu to Defend Rivlin During Fiery Knesset Session 'Slandering' the State of Israel can be translated as telling the uncomfortable truth about what the Israeli army does as opposed to the fairy tales about it being 'the most moral army in the world.'

‘Breaking the Silence’ is not an anti-Zionist group.  Indeed most of its members would identify as Zionists.  They are former soldiers who have come out to tell of their experiences in the Israeli Occupation Forces.  They describe the beatings, the killings, the wanton disregard for Palestinian life.  That is enough to make them an object of hatred for Netanyahu’s government.  

The leader of the Zionist 'left' Yesh Atid, Yair Lapid 

Netanyahu’s coalition government has actively attempted to stop the funding of Breaking the Silence and other human rights organisations such as Btselem by outside organisations such as the New Israel Fund.  But it is not only Zionist right-wingers who are guilty of trying to suppress the truth.  The 'centrist' Zionist member of Israel's 'Opposition' - Yair Lapid - has just announced that he is going to sponsor legislation to prevent what he terms 'BDS supporters' from funding groups like Breaking the Silence.  

'Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid said Sunday that he was planning to sponsor legislation to ban Israeli nonprofits that he said “vilify” the state from being funded by organizations that support a boycott of Israel.  

Appearing at a press conference alongside a group of reserve IDF officers and combat soldiers, Lapid singled out the controversial Breaking the Silence NGO, which gathers testimonies from IDF troops about alleged human rights abuses by soldiers. 

“We will lead legislation to prevent BDS [boycott, divestment and sanctions organizations] from funding NGOs in Israel that help to vilify Israel,” Lapid said. 

Lapid bids to stop BDS-backers from funding groups like Breaking the SilenceAnnouncing planned legislation, Yesh Atid leader singles out IDF-bashing NGO Breaking the Silence for crossing ‘red line from criticism into subversion’ 

Religious nutcase Hotoveli - Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister - hates Arab-Jewish relatinships  - she was responsible for the funding of the fascist Lehava group dedicated to oppose mixed race sex

It’s ok for right-wing Zionist organisations to be funded by United State billionaires such as Sheldon Adelson but not human rights groups).  Tsipli Hotoveli, the far-right religious wingnut and Deputy Foreign Minister has been waging a fierce campaign to persuade European governments and other bodies to withdraw funding from Israeli groups that are critical of Israel's brutal occupation and human rights record.  

eureporter reported Israel calls on EU to stop ‘funding NGOs working to delegitimize Israel’s place in the world

'Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (pictured) has begun a series of consultations with European foreign ministers, their deputies, and ambassadors of several European countries, in which she is presenting evidence that their governments provide financial assistance to NGOs that support boycotts against Israel.'  Apparently these organizations 

“actively blacken Israel’s name around the world, accuse it of ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and war crimes; deprive the Jewish people of their right to self-determination, call to prosecute Israel in the International Criminal Court at The Hague, and support the right of return”, she said.'

Hotoveli made a special effort, unsuccessful it should be added, to persuade Switzerland to pull the plug on an exhibition put on by Breaking the Silence.  Perhaps Hotoveli imagined that Switzerland was also a police state or perhaps that it was an Israeli satellite:

Deputy FM Instructs Israeli Embassy in Switzerland to Stop 'Breaking theSilence' Exhibit 

It's not for nothing that Israel is known as ‘the only democracy in the Middle East’

The demonstration was made up of left-Zionists and anti-/non-Zionists as far as I can tell.  People like Yariv Oppenheimer, leader of the Peace Now organisation.  Oppenheimer posted on his facebook page earlier this year that he had done his military service in the Occupied Territories on the ludicrous grounds that if the 'left' did their duty then when the time comes the army will also obey orders and transfer the settlements into the hands of the Palestinians.  In fact what the Zionist left does by these actions is to reinforce the Israeli state in its brutalities by legitimising it.  A 'left' that is complicit in colonialism is no left and that is the achiles heel of Oppenheimer and most of Meretz.  They want a nicer Zionist state but that is not an option.  Zionism is red in tooth and claw.

Tony Greenstein

Hundreds march in Tel Aviv against growing right-wing incitement

+972 Magazine     By Haggai Matar

|Published December 20, 2015

Demonstrators took the streets of central Tel Aviv to show their support for Israeli human rights organizations under attack by right-wing incitement over the past weeks. Breaking the Silence executive director: ‘We were born into the occupation, we can be the ones to end it.’

Photos by Oren Ziv / Activestills.org

Israeli left-wing activists march to protest the recent incitement against “Breaking the Silence” and other left wing NGOs, in central Tel Aviv, December 19, 2015. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Over a thousand Israelis marched Saturday night in Tel Aviv to demonstrate against incitement and occupation, and in support of Israeli human rights organizations, peace, equality, and social justice.

The protest was organized by the group “Omdim Beyachad” (Standing Together) in response to the recent incitement by far-right group Im Tirzu and government ministers against Breaking the Silence and other human rights organizations last week.

Israeli left-wing activists march to protest the recent incitement against “Breaking the Silence” and other left wing NGOs, in central Tel Aviv, December 19, 2015. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

The demonstrators gathered at Gan Meir in central Tel Aviv and headed toward the Likud headquarters just across the street. There a few short speeches were delivered on “the incitement that begins in the government offices,” which then turned into a march on King George Street, ending in the monument for slain Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The protesters chanted slogans such as “Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies,” and “The occupation is a disaster — only peace will bring security.”

Two separate counter protests also took place, which included swearing at left-wing protesters and calling out “Kahane lives.” Likud MK Oren Hazan, who previously tried to deceive Breaking the Silence by submitting a fake testimony, was one of the participants. One right-wing protestor threw a bottle at the march and was arrested.

Likud MK Oren Hazan takes part in a right-wing counter protest against leftists demonstrating against incitement coming from the Right against human rights organizations, central Tel Aviv, December 19, 2015. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Representatives of Israel’s peace camp, including Peace Now stalwart Yariv Oppenheimer, MK Dov Khenin (Joint List), MK Ilan Gilon (Meretz) and Breaking the Silence’s Executive Director Yuli Novak, spoke at the Rabin monument. “The incitement and threats do not stop with human rights organizations or the Left, they reach the President,” said Oppenheimer, in reference to the campaign of incitement against President Reuven Rivlin taking place since he participated in the Haaretz conference in New York last week, where members of Breaking the Silence also spoke. “We are in a struggle for Israeli democracy and we have no choice but to win.”

Meretz MK Ilan Gilon speaks during a demonstration against right-wing incitement, central Tel Aviv, December 19, 2015. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

This week saw the release of a devastating poverty report. We saw a devastating gas deal being signed. And now they are trying to blame everything on Breaking the Silence?” asked Khenin. “We see that an occupying nation cannot be free, and that the struggles for democracy, peace, and social justice are connected to one another. We will not give up on our home.”

“We love this country more than the settlers, we are willing to compromise over it,” added Gilon. “What kind of love is greater than that of compromise over this land and the people who live in it?”

Breaking the Silence Executive Director Yuli Novak speaks during a protest against right-wing incitement, central Tel Aviv, December 19, 2015. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Novak, who was welcomed with thunderous applause, lauded the many soldiers who have broken 

their silence over the past week — following attacks by the Right — and described what they went through during their service in the occupied territories. “This situation is not predetermined. We are a generation that was born into the occupation, we are the generation that can end it,” she said.

The police, who accompanied the protest in big numbers, were on higher alert than usual. Many police officers walked around with their fingers on the trigger of their guns, while officers with police dogs encircled the protesters the entire way. The police also shined flashlights on the balconies of all the homes above the route of the protest. I cannot recall this kind of police activity in any protest. The police did their job and allowed the march, as well as the counter protests, to take place safely. How unfortunate that we have reached a point that threats against nonviolent demonstrators in central Tel Aviv have become so tangible.

'The only democracy in the Middle East' bars visitors on political grounds

As the Israeli state heads full steam towards becoming a fully fledged police state, yet another nutty far-right piece of legislation falls into place.  From now on, if you support boycotting Israel you won’t be admitted to the country.  Bear in mind, of course, that this means that people who wish to visit the Palestinians on the West Bank or in Gaza, will also be affected.

In a rare example of non-discrimination, Jewish people who are entitled under the Law of Return to enter Israel, will also be banned.  So it will officially become a State of Jewish racists and fascists.

The two Apartheid states used to comfort each other

It may, at first superficial sight, seem right that people who want to boycott a state should not visit it.  However people boycott a state not out of some primeval desire to cut it off from civilisation but because they wish the state to change, to become better, to become non-racist or non-Zionist.  It makes sense then for people who support Boycott to engage with people in Israel who also support these aims.

Another Boycott campaign the Zionist movement opposed - The Zionists negotiated a trade agreement with the Nazis, Ha'avara, which destroyed the Jewish Boycott of Nazi Germany

We should also bear in mind that even South Africa didn’t introduce legislation that barred people from its shores simply because they had advocated BDS.  What this means in reality is that people entering Israel will now be scrutinised as to what they believe.  Your entry will be dependent on your beliefs, surely a first in the world but of course not incompatible with Israel’s status as ‘the only democracy in the Middle East’.  You can now believe in anything you want just as long as those running the Israeli state agrees with you.

The Zionist movement has always favoured certain Boycotts - e.g. the Boycott of Arab Labour and Produce

This is another Bill from the openly racist, semi-fascist Jewish settlers' party, HaBayit HeYehudi (Jewish Home).  There was a time when a party like Jewish Home would have been confined to the margins of Israeli society, now its Ministers hold the Justice, Education and deputy Defence Minister positions.

However, lest some people carp about the 'only democracy in the Middle East's'' right to ban supporters of BDS, it is only fair to point out that Israel is being consistent.  

In the 1930's the Zionist movement fought tooth and nail against the Jewish boycott of Nazi Germany too.  The Zionists preferred to trade with the Nazis.  So enthusiastic were they that in August 1933 they agreed a trade agreement Ha'avara which enabled the Zionists to lay their hands on the wealth of German Jewry.   Their aim was to 'save the wealth of Germany Jewry' a rich community.  They weren't so bothered about saving German Jews though.

Between 1933 and 1939 some 60% of capital investment in the Zionist economy in Palestine came from Nazi Germany. [David Rosenthall, Jewish Frontier May-June 1998]


One unfortunate side effect of Ha'avara was that it destroyed the Jewish Boycott of Nazi Germany.  That was why Hitler had agreed to it.  The Nazis were able to say that whilst gullible non-Jews were boycotting Germany, the Jews were taking advantage of this to make extra profit.  It was difficult to point out that the Zionists were the quislings of the Jewish community.

Tony Greenstein

Bill Banning BoycottBackers From Israel Passes Preliminary Reading

'Anyone who wants to boycott is welcome to do so from Syria,' says MK Yinon Magal, who submitted the bill. Gov't supports such a law but finds current version extreme.

Jonathan Lis Nov 11, 2015 2:25 PM

A man wearing a T-shirt with the message, "Boycott Israel Apartheid" holding a Palestinian flag during an anti-Israel protest in Paris, France, August 13, 2015.Reuters

European Commission adopts guidelines for labeling products from Israeli settlements

Israel is in national denial regarding its oppression of Palestinians

The Knesset approved Wednesday the preliminary reading of a bill forbidding entry into Israel of anyone who calls for a boycott against Israel. The bill, which passed 55-31, followed Wednesday morning's decision of the European Union to adopt new guidelines for labeling products from Israeli settlements. 

A massive Jewish Boycott rally in the United States - the Zionists fought tooth and nail against it

"Anyone who wants to boycott Israel will be able to do it here," said MK Yinon Magal (Habayit Hayehudi), who submitted the bill. "He is invited to boycott Israel from Syria. The absurd situation in which a person exploits Israeli democracy and what Israel has to offer to advance boycotts against it is about to stop. The days are over when people who called for boycotting Israel landed at Ben-Gurion and took a taxi to Bil'in to throw stones at soldiers."

Interior Minister Silvan Shalom, who responded in the name of the government, said: "This bill is no doubt extreme, and there needs to be a thoughtful discussion about it and provisions for exceptions. The government is supportive subject to coordinating legislation with it."

MK Dov Khenin (Arab Joint List), who opposed the bill, said, "The real headline for this bill is the law for encouraging boycotting the State of Israel." He observed that according to the bill, "anyone who participates in labeling products can't enter Israel."

He added: "All of Europe is out. People are prepared to pay the price of deepening delegitimization and of hurting tourism in order to protect the settlements."

The European Commission adopted Wednesday morning the Notice on indication of origin of goods from the territories occupied by Israel since June 1967, a senior EU official said. Following the decision, EU Ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem for a reprimand.

Attacking NGOs Who Tell the Truth

One of the myths of Israel's right is that the Supreme Court is a liberal Arabist institution - whereas it has presided over waves of confiscations and expulsions

 Israel – the transition from ‘democracy’ to dictatorship

/

Noone should be surprised that ‘the only democracy in the Middle East’ is fast jetissoning even the pretensions of being a democratic state.  The dictatorship that is the Occupation is rapidly coming home as dissident NGO’s, even the pro-Zionist  Btselem find their funding under attack.

NGO’s will only be able to receive funding from outside Israel with the permission of the government.  Meanwhile Sheldon Adelson’s free paper Israel Hayom, which is subsidised to the tune of $5 million by an   American/Zionist billionaire will be protected, even though it is destroying the rest of Israel’s independent media.

Right-wing Israeli NGO

Israeli hasbara has been going into overtime this week against the group Breaking the Silence, which recorded and publicised the stories of soldiers detailing what really happened in Gaza, the free-fire zones where civilians could be shot without hesitation and the collapse of any semblance of moral values.  The reaction has been to accuse Breaking the Silence of lying, being anti-Semitic (of course!), self-hating Jews etc. etc.  Shoot the messenger rather than deal with the message is the order of the day.

Ayelet Shaked - the 'angel of death' genocidalist and spearheading attack on human rights NGO's as 'justice' minister

Ayelet Shaked, who is on record as advocating the genocide of Palestinian people (or ‘little snakes’ as she terms Palestinian infants) has been appointed ‘Justice’ Minister.  It’s on a par with the decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Henry Kissinger at the time of the Vietnam War. 

Protest against Israeli apartheid outside new housing block within Arab East Jerusalem

She has Israel’s Supreme Court in her sights.  This is a favourite target of the far-Right.  The Supreme Court has an appalling enough record when it comes to Palestinian rights as it is.  It has ruled that Israeli law trumps International law.  It has given the go ahead for land confiscations, the demolition of villages and much else.  It has a grisly record of deferring to ‘security’ concerns and it is always cognisant of the need to uphold Zionist values (such as ruling that there can be no such thing as a common Israeli Nationality).  Nonetheless, the few liberal decisions it has made have proved irksome for the ‘democratic’ tyrants now ruling Israel.

Tony Greenstein

B'tselem visiting Arab farmer whose crops have been destroyed by settlers - Btselem, although a Zionist group, has been under consistent attack

Is Netanyahu waging ‘war’ on critics at home?

6 June 2015

The Israeli government has indicated it is preparing to take a hard line against human rights groups, the media and Supreme Court

Middle East Eye – 6 June 2015

The Israeli Right objects to foreign funding of NGOs - but not foreign aid for weaponry!

A month into resuming his premiership, Benjamin Netanyahu has been accused of an increasingly autocratic rule, as critics warn that his new government is preparing to take a draconian line against Israeli institutions opposing its policies.

Despite its appalling record Israel's Supreme Court under Justice Miriam Naor is under attack from Shaked for not being even more right-wing

Israel’s new rightwing coalition has already indicated it will make a priority of tackling three fronts – human rights organisations, the media and the Supreme Court. All repeatedly clashed with Netanyahu during his previous terms in office.

The leader of the parliamentary opposition, Isaac Herzog, sounded the alarm last month, cautioning Netanyahu not to “raise a hand” against the judiciary, media or the country’s minorities, including its 1.5 million Palestinian citizens. Netanyahu, he added, appeared to have learnt “tricks” from the region’s dictators.

Long-time observers of Israeli politics also fear that the current narrow right-wing coalition will give the prime minister a much freer hand. In his two earlier governments, Netanyahu depended on the support of centrist parties, such as Labor and Yesh Atid. Now he faces no such constraints.

After Netanyahu awarded himself new powers to veto legislation this week, Dov Khenin, the only Jewish member of the Arab-led Joint List party in the Israeli parliament, or Knesset, wondered: “Are we for autocracy?”

Similarly, Uri Avnery, leader of the Gush Shalom peace movement and a former Knesset member, concluded in a recent column entitled “Who will save Israel?” that: “The extreme right has found its self-assurance, and is determined to use its power.”

Concerns mount

Causes for concern have quickly mounted.

They have included the announcement of a government bill to penalise human rights groups working to help Palestinians in the occupied territories, as well as to protect the rights of the large Palestinian minority inside Israel and of African asylum seekers.

In addition, a diplomatic source told Middle East Eye that behind the scenes Israeli officials are trying to browbeat European governments into ending funding for the Israeli human rights community.

Eyebrows have also been raised by Netanyahu’s decision to reserve the communications ministry, which regulates the media, for himself. This is despite his having a shortage of ministerial posts with which to reward coalition partners.

Analysts have warned that Netanyahu is preparing to intimidate parts of the media critical of him and shore up the position of Israel Hayom, a free daily that has become the biggest-circulation national newspaper. Owned by US casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson, the paper staunchly supports Netanyahu.

Meanwhile, there are fears that the Israeli Supreme Court, which repeatedly came to blows with Netanyahu’s last government over efforts to jail and deport asylum seekers, is in his sights as well.

The prime minister agreed to appoint Ayelet Shaked, of the pro-settler Jewish Home party, as justice minister. Shaked has been a fierce critic of the court, and has previously tried to introduce legislation to neuter it.

“Netanyahu has good as declared war on dissent, whether it’s from human rights organisations or the media,” said Jafar Farah, director of Mossawa, an advocacy group for Israel’s Palestinian minority.

Israel ‘not perfect’

Netanyahu has defended his record against such charges.

Following criticism from US President Barack Obama that his security worldview assumed only the “worst possibilities”, he said on Thursday: “Israel isn’t perfect, but it is on a level with the world’s great democracies and it faces challenges that are much more difficult.”

He added that his government had invested heavily in helping Israel’s Palestinian minority, and he promised to preserve the independence of the Supreme Court, while stressing that his intention was only to open up the media to greater competition, not to control it.

“I believe in competition in products, in goods and also in ideas,” he told a press conference.

But critics are not reassured.

A European diplomat in Jerusalem told MEE that Israel had been waging an aggressive campaign in capitals across Europe to persuade them to stop funding human rights groups in Israel.

“The pressure being exerted on us behind the scenes is intense,” said the source, who wished not to be named, given the issue’s sensitivity.

The diplomat added that Israel wanted in particular to silence Israeli groups whose work might encourage a growing international boycott campaign or assist investigations by the International Criminal Court, which the Palestinians officially joined in April.

The diplomat indicated that B’Tselem and Breaking the Silence – both of which highlight human rights abuses and are funded by European governments – were top of Israel’s hit-list.

Row over soldiers’ testimony

The tensions exploded into public view this week when Israel’s foreign ministry opened a rift with Switzerland over its support for an exhibition by Breaking the Silence.

Yigal Caspi, Israel’s ambassador to Switzerland, denounced the exhibition in Zurich as “slander” for featuring photographs and testimonies from Israeli soldiers alleging violations of Palestinian human rights.

Caspi demanded that the Swiss government immediately stop funding the exhibition. Israel has previously demanded that Britain, the Netherlands, Spain and Denmark also end their support for the group.

The row was immediately followed by a decision from the culture ministry to pull funding from a dance show due to open in Tel Aviv that incorporates video clips from the occupied territories taken by B’Tselem.

Tzipi Hotovely, Netanyahu’s deputy in the foreign ministry, warned on Tuesday that the government would “act against groups that operate against Israel from within the country and abroad”.

Breaking the Silence responded by criticising the government’s “anti-democratic campaign”.

NGO bill in pipeline

The clash with Switzerland looked like the opening round in a more comprehensive move to muzzle human rights groups, said Rina Rosenberg, the head of advocacy at Adalah, a legal centre for Israel’s Palestinian citizens.

“The direction this government appears to be heading in is a cause for great concern,” she told MEE. “It looks like we are in for a big fight.”

The coalition parties specified in their agreement last month that they would advance what is being dubbed an “NGO bill”, targeting groups seen as left-wing and pro-Palestinian. Shaked, the new justice minister, is the driving force behind the measure.

According to Israeli media, the bill is likely to require NGOs to seek the approval of the defence and foreign ministries over funding they receive from foreign governments – a move that is expected to apply to human rights and pro-Palestinian groups exclusively.

If such legislation passes, most of these groups would struggle to survive financially, said Rosenberg.

In the previous Knesset, Netanyahu’s government tried to pass legislation against human rights organisations but froze it following protests from western governments. One proposal was to classify leftist groups receiving overseas funding as “foreign agents”.

At the same time groups like Rabbis for Human Rights and Physicians for Human Rights were rejected for tax-exempt status, limiting their ability to fundraise, while right-wing groups were given the status.

Rosenberg said Netanyahu’s new government appeared to have learnt its lesson and was avoiding overtly politicised legislation.

“This time it looks like they are going to be much smarter – and that makes the situation more dangerous,” she said. “By conditioning funding on permission from the defence ministry or a Knesset committee, they can say they are following practices adopted in countries like Egypt, Jordan and India.”

She feared that Israel would be able to rebuff criticism by claiming it was being singled out.

Communications ‘czar’

Farah, of Mossawa, said Netanyahu was also seeking to “consolidate his power over the media”, as a further way to silence critics.

As well as becoming communications minister, he has placed himself in charge of the Israel Broadcasting Authority, and increased his control of the ministerial committee overseeing legislation.

As part of the coalition agreement, Netanyahu insisted that his partners commit to supporting any communications initiatives he introduces.

Amir Teig, a media analyst, warned that Netanyahu was determined to turn himself into a “communications czar”.

Yossi Verter, a political analyst for Haaretz, argued that this was “payback time” for Netanyahu. Netanyahu was reported to have been incensed by news coverage during the campaign that painted him in an unflattering light.

Threat to TV channels

Netanyahu’s main goal, according to analysts, is to end any threat of restrictions on the national daily newspaper Israel Hayom.

Netanyahu’s coalition partners in the last Knesset denounced the paper as Israel’s “Pravda”, after the official mouthpiece of the former Soviet regime.

Netanyahu called early elections last November shortly after the Knesset passed the first reading of legislation to bar national distribution of a free newspaper to limit Israel Hayom’s influence.

The paper, which loses Adelson an estimated $5m a year, has left the largest paid-for newspaper, Yedioth Aharonoth, which is critical of Netanyahu, struggling.

Netanyahu has also used his communications role to make life difficult for the country’s two loss-making commercial TV stations, Channels 2 and 10. He has offered no relief on their heavy debts, with Channel 10 in particular in danger of closure.

Farah said Netanyahu’s financial threats were an effective way to intimidate the broadcasters who rely on state advertising.

Judges ready for fight

Concerns for the Supreme Court, the final court of appeal for Palestinians in the occupied territories, as well as for minorities inside Israel, are also mounting.

Netanyahu shocked many in the legal community last month by appointing Jewish Home’s Shaked as justice minister. She has been a fierce critic of the court for being too liberal.

A retired Supreme Court justice was quoted saying of her appointment: “They [the government] are inviting a fight.”

Shaked is known to want to deny the Supreme Court the right to overturn laws and to change the judicial appointments system so that right-wing judges dominate.

“The idea of the court as a liberal institution is a myth,” said Daphna Golan, a law professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem specialising in human rights. “It is actually very conservative and rarely protects the rights of Palestinians, whether in the occupied territories or in Israel.”

“But as far as Shaked and the right are concerned, it is too activist and they want to weaken it.”

This week Shaked introduced her first bill as justice minister, setting a 10-year jail tariff for those found guilty of throwing stones. Observers expect the law to be applied only to Palestinians.

Golan said the danger was that, faced with threats from the government, the Supreme Court was becoming ever more loath to uphold human rights, removing yet more democratic protections.

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