The hospitalization of Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has led to much speculation and debate.
On Sunday morning, he was rushed to Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv for a heart condition.
Doctors proceeded to fit him with a pacemaker and reported that the procedure went well however, he remained at the hospital for observation afterwards.
At the same time as his hospitalization, there has been an important debate surrounding his judicial reforms bill.
This proposed bill aims to limit the Supreme Court’s oversight powers by preventing it from striking down any decisions deemed “unreasonable”. While this idea is supported by some allies within his coalition government, many critics are worried that such a move could lead to corruption and arbitrary decision-making due to this decreased level of accountability.
Despite President Biden urging him to come up with a broad political consensus before passing any legislation on this matter, lawmakers will vote on whether or not they should pass through Knesset.
Furthermore, this reform could potentially be beneficial for Netanyahu himself as he faces multiple charges including bribery and fraud and would benefit from these lowered standards set out by Supreme Court justices.
However, if recent protests are anything to go off of then it looks unlikely that he will retain majority backing going forward regardless of whatever happens with this particular piece of legislation.
Overall, Benjamin Netanyahu’s hospitalization came at an extremely crucial time when critical debates were taking place regarding his controversial judicial reforms bill which could have large implications both for Israel itself and for Netanyahu personally.
