Kamala Harris ignorant of judicial overhaul bid, Israeli FM says

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
7 Jun 2023 15:07

The Israeli occupation's top diplomat says US Vice President Kamala Harris is ignorant when it comes to the planned judicial overhaul bid in "Israel".

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen speaks during a press conference in Prague, Czech Republic, April 4, 2023 (AP)

Israeli occupation Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on Wednesday criticized US Vice President Kamala Harris after she highlighted how the reform plan being pushed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government could impair the judiciary's independence.

"If you ask her what bothers her in the reform, she won't be able to tell you even one clause that bothers her," the Israeli top diplomat said in South Korea during a trip to the country.

Asked to comment on Kamala's Tuesday statement, in which she called for the Israeli occupation to ensure the judiciary's independence.

Washington and "Tel Aviv" have values "built on strong institutions, checks and balances, and, I'll add, an independent judiciary," Harris said.

Cohen also claimed that Harris had not read the bill presented to the Knesset regarding the issue upon being asked if he thought she had.

He, instead, argued that the reform would bring back the public's faith in the Israeli occupation's legal system by further balancing it and bolstering its separation of powers.

"Israel's legal reform is an internal issue that is currently in the process of consolidation and dialogue," he said. The occupation "will continue to be democratic and liberal, as it has always been."

For the 22nd week in a row, thousands of Israeli settlers marched in the streets in the occupied Palestinian territories to protest the Israeli hardline cabinet's contentious "judicial reforms".

An estimated 95,000 Israeli settlers participated in the main rally on "Kaplan Street" in "Tel Aviv", and many smaller demonstrations were also staged in other cities, most notably occupied Al-Quds and Haifa, as per Israeli media.

Political divisions in "Israel" continue to deepen between the government and the opposition. "Israel" has witnessed several protests by thousands of settlers against the occupation's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in which demonstrators express their opposition to the judicial reforms it plans to enact. The opposition has demanded the complete cancellation of these amendments despite the government's decision to temporarily suspend them.

The protests, which began in December last year, saw the participation of tens of thousands of settlers and later transformed into massive demonstrations where around a quarter of a million settlers took to the streets against Netanyahu's plans that set to undermine occupation courts and further empower security and military institutions.