A common understanding of the proposed judicial reform of 2023 in Israel is as a counter-movement to a 1990s judicial revolution. In this framework, the main protagonist is Chief Justice Aharon Barak, who led a revolution from above jointly with other justices in the 1990s. If this were indeed the case, then the reform of 2023 may be legitimate and even necessary to reinsert the popular will against a judicial power grab. Udi refutes such a historical and political account and offers an utterly different perspective. Within this perspective, the historical tension between the Jewish and the democratic elements of the state pitted against each other as early in the nation’s history as in the Proclamation of Independence is a critical explanatory mechanism. Rather than largely a judicial enterprise, Udi argues that the rapid change of the 1990s was a local reaction to a global shift stemming from the end of the Cold War. The motivation of Israelis, elites, and the mass public alike of all political persuasions went far deeper than the judicial arena. It stemmed from the will to side with the winners of the Cold War — Western liberal democracies. Israel shifted in the democratic direction, possibly at the expense of Jewish state elements.
Udi Sommer is a political science professor at Tel Aviv University. He has held leadership positions at the Israel Young Academy and the Israeli Cyber Forum at Columbia University. Udi has extensive research interests, including Comparative and American Politics, Politics of Sexuality and Gender, Judicial politics, pandemics and politics, and Cyber Security. He has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles in top outlets and has received several grants and fellowships. Udi co-led a team that won a grant of 1 Million New Israeli Shekels from the US State Department and the Fulbright Program to establish a new Center for the Study of the United States in Tel Aviv. Before his academic career, Udi founded and directed social programs for underprivileged youth and completed advanced graduate training in clinical psychology.
Contact: rbahati@jjay.cuny.edu
