The BBC reports that tens of thousands of Israelis have protested outside their parliament against controversial judicial reform plans which have divided the country. Israel has seen some of its biggest demonstrations in years since the plans were unveiled last month. If passed, they would curb the Supreme Court’s power and give the government more say over judicial appointments.

The Times publishes a leading article on the potential impact of the proposed judicial reforms, saying: “Whatever the concerns over the long occupation of the West Bank and the treatment of Palestinians, western governments have always acknowledged that Israel is a democracy. Indeed, elections are as frequent as they are unpredictable. Its courts are free. The Supreme Court, in particular, has often been the only redress for Palestinians who have had their houses destroyed or suffered arbitrary arrest. Israel’s robust judicial independence has long been admired by its supporters overseas, especially in America.”

The Guardian publishes a piece saying that “Israeli democracy is under unprecedented attack from within. Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government is following the playbook written by authoritarians in Hungary, Poland and other self-declared beacons of “illiberalism”: subordinate the judiciary and other independent bodies like public broadcasting to government control, all in the name of the people.”

The Guardian also reports that The Biden administration has withdrawn the nomination of a leading law professor to an international human rights post, for describing Israel as an “apartheid state” and accusing the top Democrat in Congress of being “bought” by pro-Israel groups. James Cavallaro, of Wesleyan and Yale universities, said he was told by the US state department on Tuesday it had dropped his selection to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights “due to my statements denouncing apartheid in Israel/Palestine”. Cavallaro retweeted a previous Guardian story about the gratification of pro-Israel groups at the election of the New York Democratic congressman Hakeem Jeffries as House minority leader with the comment: “Bought. Purchased. Controlled.”

The Spectator publishes a piece asking: ‘How does Israel contain Palestinian terrorism without provoking the third Intifada?’ Recent weeks have seen the largest escalation in violence between Israel and the Palestinian since 2021. Israeli forces have killed at least 42 Palestinians so far this year; and eleven Israelis, mostly civilians, have been killed in a series of terror attacks. The violence is in danger of spiralling out of control”.

Reuters reports that Foreign ministers of four European countries and Canada joined Washington on Tuesday in opposing a decision by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to authorize nine Jewish settler outposts in the occupied West Bank. The foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the United States issued a joint statement voicing concern over the plans announced by Israel on Sunday. 

Ynet reports on US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s meeting yesterday with UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. As well as discussing the situations in Ukraine and an earthquake-ravaged Turkey, the two addressed “the need for Israelis and Palestinians to urgently take steps to prevent further escalation of violence and restore calm.” On Monday, Blinken publicly criticised Israel’s decision to authorise nine illegal West Bank outposts and announce what Amos Harel in Haaretz calls a “virtually unprecedented” 9,000-home settlement expansion. In a joint statement on Tuesday, the foreign ministers of the United States, France, Germany, Italy, and the UK “strongly oppose these unilateral steps that will only serve to exacerbate tensions between the Israelis and the Palestinians and undermine efforts to negotiate a two-state solution.”

Ynet also discusses the related story of the Palestinians urging a UN resolution condemning the settlement moves. Head of the Palestinian mission to the UN Riyad Mansour has written to all members of the UN Security Council accusing Israel of “attempting to impose a fait accompli in occupied Palestine, through increasing illegal measures of colonization, annexation and collective punishment.” The Palestinians plan to raise the question at the UN’s periodic Middle East session next Monday. Israeli ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan has responded by writing to Security Council members urging them to condemn recent Palestinian terror and the role played by Palestinian authorities in inciting it.

Maariv discusses Security Forces and the West Bank Civil Administration today beginning clearing of an illegal vineyard in the settlement of Gush Shiloh, in Benjamin. Religious Zionism leader and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir have protested the evacuation to Prime Minister Netanyahu, with Smotrich arguing that his expanded brief, agreed in negotiations to form the coalition government, gives him a say over such decisions. He claims that Defence Minister Yoav Gallant is intruding on his own policy area. MKs Limor Son Har-Malech (Jewish Power) and Zvi Sukkot (Religious Zionism) attempted to prevent bulldozers from carrying out their clearing work, with Son Har-Malech being detained for her protests. Of the clearing, MK Danny Danon (Likud) commented: “Despite the painful sights, there is a law and it must be upheld. What I can’t explain is that there is one law for Jews and one for Muslims. In the case of Khan al-Ahmar, the same supervisors who were very efficient today, should also remove Khan al-Ahmar and all illegal construction, whether by Jews or Arabs or Bedouins.”

Israel Hayom reports Smotrich and Ben Gvir’s determination to follow the recent settlement announcements with further expansion, while Harel, in Haaretz, assesses the divergent West Bank strategies of Netanyahu and Gallant on the one hand, and Smotrich and Ben Gvir on the other. He says that the Prime and Defence Minister are in agreement with military and security officials that the current wave of Palestinian violence is best met by adhering to the status quo of patient, intelligence led operations, and not with the collective punishment called for by Smotrich and Ben Gvir. To placate the two far-right ministers, Harel says that Netanyahu is acquiescing to their programme for settlement expansion, putting at risk relations with the US in the process. Harel also details an incident from Monday this week, in which the same Palestinian activist, Issa Amro, who made headlines when soldiers from the Golani Brigade were filmed attacking him in Hebron in December last year, was once more attacked by a soldier from the unit.

I24 News details a joint plan between the Prime Minister’s Office and the Jerusalem Municipality to increase security in the city in the wake of recent terror attacks. Security forces will be strengthened and Jerusalem’s 700 bus stops – frequent sights of attacks – will be made safer. The plan was revealed a day after Border Police officer Sgt. Asil Su’ad was killed following a stabbing attack at the Shuafat refugee camp, close to Jerusalem, and an Israeli teenager was injured in a stabbing in the city. Palestinian perpetrators in both incidents were under 15 years old.

Kan Radio reports on Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen’s diplomatic visit to Turkey. Turkish President Erdogan and Cohen’s counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu once more floated a proposal that Israel export natural gas to Europe through Turkish territory. Israel’s discovery of gas reserves has made export to Europe a potentially attractive prospect, especially given the continent’s determination to divest from Russian energy in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine. Political and logistical challenges have so far precluded such export.

Meanwhile, Cavusoglu thanked Israel for its significant aid contribution to Turkey’s recovery from the earthquake. Israel has sent some 60 tonnes of humanitarian aid via the Foreign Ministry’s international aid agency, while the Israeli delegation to Turkey rescued 19 people and to date has treated 400 people at the field hospital set up by the IDF, Homefront Command and the ministries of defence and health. The Israeli medical aid delegation will return home today. Another delegation was forced to return early this week following credible threats made against it.

Haaretz covers its own role in the Paris-based organisation Forbidden Stories’ latest expose of the “disinformation-for-hire industry” industry. Working in conjunction with other newspapers including The Guardian, the organisation’s investigation included an expose of brothers Tal and Zohar Hanan, from Modi’in. Their “Team Jorge” is alleged to have conducted covert interference in international elections, including in Nigeria.