US chides Israel over judicial overhaul

WASHINGTON — The White House on Monday called it "unfortunate" that Israel's parliament ratified part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's contested judicial overhaul, defying US President Joe Biden, as the law triggers a new burst of mass protests in Israel.

Biden's administration reiterated its long-standing concerns after Israel's Knesset approved an initial bill aimed at curbing the Supreme Court's powers despite months of street protests and appeals from the US and other countries to hold off and negotiate with the opposition.

The vote showed the limits of Biden's ability to rein in the divisive judicial overhaul.

"As a lifelong friend of Israel, President Biden has publicly and privately expressed his views that major changes in a democracy to be enduring must have as broad a consensus as possible," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

"It is unfortunate that the vote today took place with the slimmest possible majority," she added.

Biden, who has had frosty relations with Netanyahu compared with former president Donald Trump, finally invited the prime minister last week for an official visit later this year. But US officials have yet to set a date or concur with Israeli statements that they would meet at the White House in September.

Biden had delayed extending the invitation out of concern over Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan and Jewish settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. The two leaders have occasionally clashed in public and in private.

Biden, a Democrat, has said Netanyahu must maintain Israel's independent judiciary as crucial to democracy, but some Republican lawmakers have accused him of meddling in Israeli domestic affairs.

However, there have been no signs Biden's criticism has hurt other key areas such as US-Israel military and intelligence cooperation.

Berlin is also following tensions over judicial reform in Israel with "great concern", a Foreign Ministry source said on Monday.

Domestically, Israel braced for fresh strikes and protests on Tuesday following the divisive vote.

Protesters remained on the streets late into the night following the vote, with student Josh Hakim saying he was "really, really sad about what's happening to this country".

"You see what is happening on the streets, everyone is so angry," he told Agence France-Presse at a rally near parliament in Jerusalem.

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