Israel reforms: Current and all former Mossad chiefs oppose Netanyahu’s plan

The current and all the six living former Mossad chiefs oppose Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contested judicial overhaul plan, the Jerusalem Post reported on Monday.

Mossad Director David Barnea said on Monday that if the government goes the wrong way, his agency will come out on the “right side of history” – but that such a point was not reached when the government repealed the reasonableness standard Monday afternoon, according to the Israeli report.

All of the six living former Mossad chiefs had either explicitly opposed the reasonableness standard repeal or called for a pause to arrive at a compromise, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Five out of six had blamed Netanyahu for tearing apart the nation, while Yossi Cohen had said the vote must be paused to give more time for dialogue.

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Earlier on Monday, the Israeli parliament approved the first bill of Netanyahu's judicial overhaul, despite last-ditch attempts to reach a compromise and resolve a months-long constitutional crisis. The bill, aimed at limiting the Supreme Court's authority to void certain government decisions considered “unreasonable,” passed unanimously with a 64-0 vote, leading to protests and opposition lawmakers abandoning the session.

Demonstrations against the bill began in the morning, with police forcibly removing chained protesters outside parliament. As the day progressed, protests expanded to various cities across the country.

This amendment is just one aspect of the broader judicial changes unveiled by the government in January, which have sparked widespread and unprecedented nationwide protests and raised concerns among international allies regarding the state of Israel's democratic integrity.

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