The guests of the program "Beyond the News" ruled out that American concern about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to pass the Judicial Reform Law will affect the future of the two countries' strategic relations, despite their acknowledgment of the existence of a "deep" crisis between the current officials in Washington and Tel Aviv.

In the program's episode on (2023/3/27), former US State Department Spokesperson Ambassador P.J. Crowley said that the relations of the two countries are close and based on strategic pillars, and that they have a political dimension based on the fact that the Israeli regime is "effective democratic", which US President Joe Biden justified his country's concern in his talks with Netanyahu about judicial amendments.

This comes against the backdrop of Biden's expression to Netanyahu of his country's concerns about the situation in Israel, and Tel Aviv's indifference to American concern about judicial amendments, while Yedioth Ahronoth revealed that Netanyahu informed Washington of his intention to "freeze judicial amendments" in question.

On Monday evening, Netanyahu announced – in a speech broadcast on Israeli television – that he would postpone the judicial amendments to the next parliamentary session, in order to prevent division in the nation, according to him; "Out of a desire to prevent discord in the nation, I decided to postpone the second and third readings in order to reach a broad consensus."

Crowley said that the Biden administration and the Netanyahu government are going through a tense relationship; they are not friends, but the relations between the two countries at the institutional level are strong, and would overcome the current bumps, unlikely that Washington's concern will develop in a way that leads to a reconsideration of the relations of the two countries.

The former US official believes that this concern is left to Israeli leaders, as although the government is elected, it is necessary to take measures that satisfy the street, which expresses a significant percentage in Israel, and the United States always calls on its friends to respond to their people and work to resolve similar crises in peaceful and democratic forms, according to the American guest.

"Any steps that weaken the independent judiciary, which is a fundamental pillar of any democratic system, cannot be ignored, so the United States will have positions and express concern if it sees a democratic system moving towards authoritarianism in this way," he said.

No reason for American concern

Dr. Mordechai Kedar, professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University, believes that there is no real reason for American concern about Israel, describing the current conflict in Israel as a conflict between the elected Knesset authority and the judiciary, which has seized some matters of state, as he put it, and everyone must sit together to reach a formula that can be agreed upon.

While acknowledging the existence of a "crisis and tension" between Netanyahu and the US administration, due to their different political backgrounds, as the Biden administration expresses a democratic party, while the Israeli government was formed from a conservative party, Tel Aviv expects everyone to respect democracy and the choice of the Israeli voter.

He also expressed his strong rejection of some to play the role of advisor to Israel - in reference to the position of the Biden administration - and said that Israel does not need anyone's advice, as its politicians know its ways and paths than others, even those who live in Washington, stressing at the same time the strength of the relations of the two countries, which are based on "thousands of levels and projects," as he put it.

Israeli affairs researcher Elif Sabbagh believes that Washington's concern – and behind it the liberal forces in Israel – is not only motivated by the military weakening of Israel in any future confrontation, in light of the ongoing crisis, but also out of fear of opening the door to "prosecuting thousands of military and political leaders."

"At present, the Israeli court is the one that forms the Iron Dome over the heads of Israel's criminals, and the United States represents the international Iron Dome that protects them, and therefore if it is lifted, Israel will be like walking naked, and then all the forces that committed war crimes will be subjected to international trials," and this is what America and the liberal forces in Israel do not want.

This will not only be reflected on the military side, but also on international relations and the Israeli economy, and will cause investors to flee, so the United States has an interest in settling differences between the parties to Israel, and keeping the Israeli state strong and retaining its democratic image.