There is no doubt that the judicial reform that the Netanyahu government is working on would shift the balance between the executive and the judiciary, to the detriment of the judiciary. However, it is not as clear as the opposition says that democracy is necessarily disappearing in Israel.
Many solutions are possible for the balance between the will of the electorate and judicial control. President Herzog also recognises that there is a need for correction. The main problem is that the planned reform is leading to great discord in Israeli society.
Relationships are special
This is a fine line for foreign influence, especially in the case of Germany. Its relations with the Jewish state are something special for the well-known historical reasons, as Chancellor Scholz and Prime Minister Netanyahu rightly pointed out in Berlin.
Nevertheless, Scholz has taken sides in the matter by promoting Herzog's reform proposal, which Netanyahu has so far rejected. Politically, he also spoiled his guest's opportunity to distract from the domestic political dispute with his trip to Germany.
Bilateral relations are strong enough to survive. But it is not convincing that the chancellor of the traffic light, which wants to make it more difficult for two opposition parties to gain access to the Bundestag with a change in electoral law in a hurry, is acting as an advocate of broad political consensus-building.