In New York Times ad, prominent Netanyahu critics spurn unity government prospect
The text co-signed by ex-military chief Dan Halutz and former Mossad head Tamir Pardo is a response to a plan promoted in same newspaper by Ronald Lauder
Cnaan Lidor is The Times of Israel's Jewish World reporter
In the wake of a New York Times ad in which World Jewish Congress leader Ronald Lauder advocated a national unity government in Israel, several opposition figures have rejected that idea in an ad of their own in the same paper.
The new full-page ad published Monday, cosigned by 17 prominent individuals including former Israel Defense Forces chiefs of staff Dan Halutz and Moshe Ya’alon — also a former defense minister — as well as former Mossad head Tamir Pardo, calls Lauder’s national unity plan “misguided,” as “there can be no unity with those who have declared total war on Israeli democracy.
The cosignatories published their ad under the title “CEASE AND DESIST, THEN WE CAN TALK: An Open Letter to the President of the World Jewish Congress, Ronald S. Lauder.”
The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to transfer some powers from the judiciary to elected officials in the executive and legislative branches. Critics say it is attempting a dangerous erosion of democratic safeguards.
The first major piece of legislation in the overhaul passed last month. That law says that the court may not rule on government policies based on “reasonableness.” Advocates of this legislation say it addresses a creeping power grab by the judiciary, in which judges apply subjective parameters to reverse democratically reached decisions. Critics say the reasonableness clause was an important safeguard against abuse of power, nepotism, and negligence by the executive branch.
The government said it next plans to advance one of the most controversial bills in the plan — legislation that would change the makeup of the committee that selects judges, in a way that would give far more power to politicians.
“There can only be unity after two conditions are wet: WITHDRAW the toxic legislation in its entirety. REVERSE the law passed on July 26th which revokes judicial oversight based on the long-standing ‘extreme unreasonableness’ standard, a key deterrent to corruption and unrestrained government power. After these prerequisites are achieved, we can talk,” the ad said.
It noted that it was funded by “The Pro-Democracy Struggle’s Central Headquarters,” an unofficial alliance of several protest groups against the judicial overhaul. It also said that this alliance is “led by” Blue White Future, a nonprofit set up in 2009 to promote Palestinian statehood under the two-state solution and which has since become active in anti-overhaul initiatives.
The stated annual budget of Blue White Future, or Atid Kachol Lavan, for 2022 was about NIS 805,000 ($210,000), according to the Israeli registry for nonprofits. A full-page ad in the New York Times can cost anywhere between $75,000 and $200,000.
In his ad from July 25, Lauder, a billionaire and philanthropist who helped fund Netanyahu’s campaigns but has also criticized Netanyahu publicly, wrote: “There is only one way to overcome this multi-dimensional existential crisis: national unity. Just as Israelis joined hands on the eve of the 1967 war, they must join hands now,” adding: “There are only three men who can bring about this unity: Benjamin Netanyahu, Yair Lapid, and Benny Gantz.”
Lapid and Gantz, who lead the two largest opposition parties, recently ruled out joining Netanyahu in a government, saying it would not be one of unity but of “surrender” to the premier’s whims.
Additional co-signatories of Monday’s ad include Eynat Guez, CEO of Papaya Global, an Israel-founded high-tech firm that Guez said had divested from Israel in January because of the overhaul; Yuli Tamir, a former Labor politician and education minister; and Jeremy Levin, a former CEO of Teva Pharmaceuticals.