Dershowitz brokering Israel's judicial reform as conservatives attempt Supreme Court takeover

Harvard professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz is attempting to broker a deal in Israel's judicial reform fight as conservatives are attempting to reform the country's Supreme Court in a manner similar to that proposed by the American left. 

Tens of thousands of Israelis have been protesting the judicial proposal for weeks. In response to liberal rulings by the Supreme Court, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government issued multiple proposals, including allowing the Israeli Parliament to override court decisions by a simple majority.

Dershowitz told "Just the News, No Noise" last week that during a recent trip to Israel, he met with people on both sides of the judicial reform issue.

"My job was to try to say, 'Look, each of you has a point, the Supreme Court of Israel maybe has gone too far in political and economic cases, but they have to preserve that power over core fundamental issues of liberty, due process, free speech, equal protection,'" Dershowitz said.

Another part of the proposal would make the court more similar to the United States by giving the government more power in picking justices. Potential Israeli justices are picked by three current Supreme Court justices, two representatives from the Israel Bar Association and four elected representatives. The proposal would also lower the justice retirement age from 70 to 67.

"The left wants to weaken the Supreme Court after the reversal of Roe v. Wade," Dershowitz said. "In Israel, it's the opposite. It's the conservative side that wants to limit the Supreme Court."

Dershowitz said last month that he would be protesting in the street against the reforms in Israel.

However, even as some media outlets portray the proposed reforms as harmful to democracy, Dershowitz said that Israel will remain strong. If anything, the proposed reform would allow democracy to rule over minority rights, he said in a Jerusalem Post opinion piece last week. 

"Democracy – that is, the rule of the temporary majority – should always be balanced against other enduring values," he wrote. "Israel will remain a vibrant democracy, where the majority of the people rule, regardless of whether all or some of these reforms are ultimately enacted or defeated. It is about justice, the rule of law and minority rights, which are essential to making a democracy the best and fairest it can be."