Ex-Israeli Leader Urges Foreign Leaders to Boycott Netanyahu over Judiciary Plan

Former Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, has called on global leaders to boycott current Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Olmert’s call comes amidst Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the country’s justice system, with the United States and Germany, two of Israel’s closest allies, joining in the call for restraint and international intervention.

Thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets to protest Netanyahu’s plan, with Olmert urging leaders of friendly countries to the state of Israel to refuse to meet with Netanyahu. Olmert, who served as prime minister from 2006-2009, accused the current Israeli government of being “anti-Israeli” and took aim at Netanyahu’s far-right coalition, an alliance of ultra-Orthodox and ultranationalist parties that oppose Palestinian independence and support increased settlement construction in occupied territories claimed by the Palestinians.

Protesters have accused Netanyahu’s plan of upending the country’s system of checks and balances and giving the prime minister too much power, as well as allowing him to escape justice once the court system is revamped.

Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets over the past two and a half months, and the plan has sparked an uproar from top legal officials, business leaders who say it will damage the economy, and from within the country’s military. Reservists have pledged not to serve under what they see as a shift toward autocracy.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz voiced concern about the overhaul plan and praised the Israeli president’s attempts to seek a “broad basic consensus,” adding that “the independence of the judiciary is a precious democratic asset.”