PAGANS HAVE NO SUCH QALMS

‘Green’ burial alternatives, human composting get a hard ‘no’ from Catholic bishops

NATURE IS SACRED


Christine Rousselle
Fri, March 24, 2023 

A large faith conference is pushing back on "green composting" as a way to handle human remains.

It is improper to compost human remains and the practice is disrespectful to the body of the deceased, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a statement released Thursday, March 23.

"The guidance offered by the Congregation regarding burial and cremation reflects the Church’s overarching concern that due respect be shown to the bodily remains of the deceased in a way that gives visible witness to our faith and hope in the resurrection of the body," said the statement, authored by the conference's doctrine committee.

"Unfortunately, the two most prominent newer methods for disposition of bodily remains that are proposed as alternatives to burial and cremation, alkaline hydrolysis and human composting, fail to meet this criterion," the group added.

NEW YORK BECOMES THE 6TH US STATE TO GREEN LIGHT HUMAN COMPOSTING LAW

In 2019, Washington became the first state to legalize human composting.

Since then, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, California and New York have also legalized the practice, according to Smithsonian magazine.

A 2022 survey from the National Funeral Directors Association found that 60.5% would be interested in "green" funeral options — an increase from 55.7% the prior year.

Guests sit in the gathering space looking at a shrouded mannequin in front of the threshold vessel at Recompose, a green funeral home specializing in human composting, on Oct. 6, 2022 in Seattle, Washington.

It is believed that the cost of traditional funerals as well as the chemicals required for embalming are leading some to consider this option.

The bishops took issue with what happens to the human body after undergoing human composting or alkaline hydrolysis.

As opposed to cremation, where "all human remains are gathered together and reserved for disposition," alkaline hydrolysis and composting require that the remains be essentially scattered, they said.

‘HUMAN COMPOSTING’ ON THE RISE AS ‘GREEN FUNERALS’ BECOME INCREASINGLY POPULAR

"After the alkaline hydrolysis process, there are also remnants of the bones that can be pulverized and placed in an urn. That is not all that remains, however," they said in the statement.

Alkaline hydrolysis also produces "100 gallons of brown liquid" that was formerly human remains.

Human remains should be buried — either in a casket or in an urn — in a sacred place such as a cemetery, said the Catholic bishops.

"This liquid is treated as wastewater and poured down the drain into the sewer system (in certain cases it is treated as fertilizer and spread over a field or forest)," something that "does not show adequate respect for the human body, nor express hope in the resurrection," said the bishops.

The same is true for human composting, which leads "nothing left but compost, nothing that one can point to and identify as remains of the body."

The conference statement added, "The body and the plant material have all decomposed together to yield a single mass of compost. What is left is approximately a cubic yard of compost that one is invited to spread on a lawn or in a garden or in some wilderness location" — something that the bishops say "is not sufficiently respectful of the human body."

Human composting reduces the human body to soil, as seen above. Human composting is also known as natural organic reduction, terramation or recomposition.

"The body is completely disintegrated," said the bishops.

"There is nothing distinguishably left of the body to be placed in a casket or an urn and laid to rest in a sacred place where Christian faithful can visit for prayer and remembrance."

In the Catholic Church, burial is considered "the most appropriate way of manifesting reverence and respect for the body of the deceased."

It also "clearly expresses our faith and hope in the resurrection of the body."

While cremation is permitted as long as it is not "chosen for reasons contrary to Christian doctrine," said the bishops, it is not permissible to scatter the ashes of the deceased, divide them among family members and friends, or store them in a home.

While cremation is considered an acceptable option, the container of the remains must be buried in a sacred place and not scattered, said the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Cremated remains "must be put in a sacred place, usually a cemetery, though it could possibly be a church or some other area that has been 'set aside for this purpose, and so dedicated by the competent ecclesial authority,'" noted the bishops.

Doing this "shows our respect for the last remains of the deceased and manifests our Christian hope in the resurrection of the body," they also said.

"The relationship between the living and the dead is not a purely private matter, but rather involves the entire Christian community," said the bishops.

With traditional burials, as well as burying ashes in a "sacred place," it is ensured that "those who died will not be deprived of the prayers and remembrance of their families and of the Christian community as a whole," they also noted.

"The Church earnestly recommends visits to cemeteries to pray for the dead, which is one of the spiritual works of mercy," the bishops added.

Amid deluge, California farmers flood their fields in order to save them



Don Cameron stands next to one of his flood capture projects on his Terranova Ranch in Helm, California

Fri, March 24, 2023 
By Mike Blake and Daniel Trotta

HELM, California (Reuters) - When Don Cameron first intentionally flooded his central California farm in 2011, pumping excess stormwater onto his fields, fellow growers told him he was crazy.

Today, California water experts see Cameron as a pioneer. His experiment to control flooding and replenish the ground water has become a model that policy makers say others should emulate.

With the drought-stricken state suddenly inundated by a series of rainstorms, California's outdated infrastructure has let much of the stormwater drain into the Pacific Ocean. Cameron estimated his operation is returning 8,000 to 9,000 acre-feet of water back to the ground monthly during this exceptionally wet year, from both rainwater and melted snowpack. That would be enough water for 16,000 to 18,000 urban households in a year.

"When we started doing this, our neighbors thought we were absolutely crazy. Everyone we talked to thought we would kill the crop. And lo and behold, believe me, it turned out great," said Cameron, vice president and general manager of Terra Nova Ranch, a 6,000-acre (2,400-hectare) farm growing wine grapes, almonds, walnuts, pistachios, olives and other crops in the San Joaquin Valley, the heart of California's $50 billion agricultural industry.

If more farmers would inundate their fields rather than divert precipitation into flood channels, that excess could seep underground and get stored for when drought conditions return.

California swings between disastrous drought and raging floodwaters. This season has been especially rainy, with 12 atmospheric rivers pounding California since late December, placing greater importance on flood control. More wet weather is forecast in the coming week.

Terra Nova's basins are filled with 1.5 to 3.5 feet of water, Cameron said Wednesday. He plans to eventually flood 530 acres of pistachio trees and 150 acres of wine grapes plus another 350 acres that are planted only when excess floodwater is available.

The state Department of Water Resources provided $5 million and Terra Nova another $8 million for the project, which includes a pumping system. So far there has been virtually zero return for the company, Cameron said, though it may acquire future water rights for its groundwater contributions.

Cameron "is definitely what we call the godfather of on-farm recharge. He's really the pioneer who began doing it first," said Ashley Boren, CEO of Sustainable Conservation, an environmental group with a focus on supporting sustainable groundwater management.

This mimicking of nature - letting water flow across the landscape - is the most cost-effective way to manage peak flood flows, experts say, while banking the surplus for drier days.

"It's not only going to benefit us, it will benefit our neighbors," Cameron said.

Cameron began his 30-year-old passion project before the state passed the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) of 2014, a law that sought to avoid a looming disaster from overdrafts.

Since then, policy makers have worked on economic incentives for more farmers to follow suit. Some water districts that are responsible for implementing SGMA have offered growers credits toward water rights in exchange for recharge. Pending state legislation would simplify permitting and guarantee water rights for participating growers.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on March 10 making it easier for farmers to divert floodwaters onto their lands until June.

There is no statewide monitoring of on-farm recharge, but Sustainable Conservation is keeping track of four water districts in the San Joaquin Valley that recorded 260 farmers replenishing their aquifers this year, returning at least 50,000 acre-feet (61.7 million cubic meters) back into the ground as of mid-February.

California, which has a strategic goal of adding 4 million acre-feet of storage, recently provided $260 million in grants to Groundwater Sustainability Agencies established under SGMA. The state received applications seeking $800 million, indicating demand for projects, said Paul Gosselin, deputy director of the state's Sustainable Groundwater Management Office.

Besides cost, growers face other obstacles to on-farm recharge. A farm must have access to the water, cannot hurt endangered species and cannot flood land subjected to certain fertilizers or pesticides or dairy farm waste.

In the Merced River Watershed, willing farmers could recapture enough future floodwater to replace 31% of the groundwater they are overdrafting under existing conditions, said Daniel Mountjoy, director of resource stewardship for Sustainable Conservation, who participated in a state study. That could jump to 63% with changes in reservoir management and infrastructure improvements, he said.

To achieve sustainability throughout the San Joaquin Valley, an estimated 750,000 to 1 million acres of irrigated farmland would have to be fallowed, Mountjoy said.

"We're at the beginning of a lot of momentum for groundwater recharge programs," said Gosselin, of the state groundwater office. "The last two years (of extreme drought) was a wakeup call for everybody."

(Reporting by Mike Blake in Helm and Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, Calif. Editing by Donna Bryson and David Gregorio)

WAR ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Republican Lawmaker Asks Lesbian Colleague if She’s a Pedophile

Donald Padgett
Thu, March 23, 2023 

Republican Lawmaker Asks Lesbian Colleague if She’s a Pedophile

A lawmaker in Rhode Island asked a lesbian legislator if she was a pedophile during a heated discussion over an equity and inclusion bill on Friday.

As reported by the Providence Journal, the State House was debating HB 5763 known as the Equity Impact Statement Act when Rep. Robert Quattrocchi asked Rep. Rebecca Kislak if she was a pedophile while questioning the cost and need for the legislation.

The exchange was caught on video and showed the chamber erupting in shock and anger moments later.

HB 5763 would require all legislation submitted to the general assembly to include an equity impact statement listing potential impact based on “race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex sexual orientation, gender expression, disability, age or country of ancestral origin.” The bill would further require listing historic disparities of these groups and existing efforts to correct them, as well as ensuring that the proposed legislation would not negatively impact these communities.

“It just seems like a lot,” Quattrocchi asked Kislak during the hearing. “You don’t feel that all the anti-discrimination laws that we have already, which are many, protecting all these classes that you’re, that are listed in this bill?”

He described the bill as “very, very broad” in its reporting requirements and questioned how it would be implemented.

“Do I have to take into account, for instance, religion?” Quattrocchi continued. “Do I have to take into account how it affects Satan and Satanists in Rhode Island? Or do I have to take into account with sexual orientation — how it affects pedophiles in Rhode Island? Anything like that?

“Well, first I want to appoint out that pedophile is not a sexual orientation,” Kislak answered coolly.

“Oh, I'm sorry,” Quattrocchi reponded.

“So like my equity right now is pointing out that that was really offensive,” Kislak continued.

“Oh I didn't mean to,” Quattrocchi trailed off before asking, “Are you a pedophile?”

The chamber descended into chaos before Rep. Evan Shanley restored order. Quattrocchi immediately apologized and later called the incident a misunderstanding but also said he could provide no further comment.

“Because I have not been advised by the Speaker’s Office as to his intentions regarding this matter, I cannot offer further comment at this time,'” Quattrocchi said in a statement on Tuesday.

Out gay House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi described the question as “insulting” and “reprehensible” and said Quattrocchi’s statement was “a step in the right direction” but didn’t go far enough.

A coalition of LGBTQ+ advocacy and support groups signed a public letter on Tuesday condemning Quattrocchi’s question.

“Rhode Island has been a leader in recognizing and protecting equality for the LGBTQ+ community. The people of this state are proud of that legacy.” the letter stated. “Our representatives should be working to ensure safety, dignity, and equity for all residents, not perpetuating dangerous, false comparisons that undermine the humanity of LGBTQ+ people.”

In his statement on Tuesday, Quattrocchi said he had apologized to Kislak on at least four separate occasions, though Kislak disputed that claim.

“It is not an apology,” Kislak told The Journal.

You can watch the entire exchange below.

"Are you a pedophile?" asks RI Rep Robert Quattrocchi (Republican, District 41, Scituate) www.youtube.com

The GOP lawmaker who asked a Democratic colleague who is one of two openly LGBTQ members in the House if she was a pedophile doubled down on Thursday after he was removed from the legislative committee 

Katherine Gregg, The Providence Journal
Fri, March 24, 2023 

PROVIDENCE — The GOP lawmaker who asked a Democratic colleague who is one of two openly LGBTQ members in the House if she was a pedophile doubled down on Thursday after he was removed from the legislative committee in which the confrontation took place last week.

In a statement read aloud by the House clerk, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi gave this explanation for removing Rep. Robert Quattrocchi, R-Scituate, from the House Committee on State Government and Elections:

"While asking questions as a member of the committee, Representative Robert Quattrocchi made several references about the applicability of the legislation to 'Satanists' and 'pedophiles' and directly asked Representative Kislak, 'Are you a pedophile?' "

"Representative Quattrocchi’s statements to Representative Kislak during the March 17 hearing are not in keeping with the decorum or the integrity of this body. Use of suggestive and offensive language and the disparagement of an esteemed colleague will not be tolerated in this chamber.


"I hereby direct that Representative Robert Quattrocchi be removed as a member of the House Committee on State Government and Elections, effective immediately."

Rep. Robert J. Quattrocchi, R-Scituate
Quattrocchi: 'I won't bend a knee to a man or a woman. I'll bend my knee to God.'

In response, House Minority Leader Michael Chippendale accused Shekarchi of bowing under pressure from a "mob," and Quattrocchi gave a not-sorry speech on the floor in which he "confess[ed] to my guilt for calling out evil, an evil act against children.

"And because I did that, evil came for me through my answering machine in the most disgusting, vile, I don't even know how to describe it, language, whatever it is. Evil wished the rape of my children, my mother, my death, for me to be shot in the head."

He said some of the emails he received were even more vile.

"All this for asking questions, not making statements, not making accusations, not talking about any groups of people ... [but] doing the job that my constituents sent me here to do, using what I thought was my ... freedom of speech. Excuse me, what was left of it.

"So if God put me here to be a lightning rod, so be it," the Scituate Republican said. "I won't bend a knee to a man or a woman. I'll bend my knee to God, and [when] my time is done, I will accept God's judgment. That's the only judgment I care about."
What was the context of Quattrocchi's remark?

The action came in the wake of Quattrocchi's remarks to Rep. Rebecca Kislak, D-Providence, during the committee's hearing last Friday on Kislak's bill H 5763, which would require that lawmakers take into account the impact of their bills on people of different races, religions and sexual orientations.

"It seems very, very broad," said Quattrocchi, who was then still a member of the committee.

"In my thinking about [bills] that I want to present … do I have to take into account, for instance … how it affects Satanists in Rhode Island?" Quattrocchi asked. "Or do I have to take into account, with 'sexual orientation,' how it affects pedophiles in Rhode Island — anything like that?"

"Pedophile is not a sexual orientation," Kislak responded. And "that was really offensive."

"Oh, I didn't mean to. Are you a pedophile? I'm sorry," Quattrocchi said to Kislak, a Providence Democrat who describes herself as a lesbian.

In the days since, a number of advocacy groups have condemned Quattrocchi for using a hurtful stereotype to mischaracterize LGBTQ people, while Shekarchi himself called the remarks "reprehensible."

"It was insulting to a colleague of the House and it is not the kind of decorum I expect in the House of Representatives," said Shekarchi, who is gay.

Quattrocchi issued a statement on Tuesday attributing the controversy to what he called "a misunderstanding," but he had not publicly apologized as of the start of the Thursday House session.

Shekarchi said Quattrocchi needs to go the next step and publicly apologize "in whatever forum he wants but yes, there should be a public apology ... because the effect of his words were extremely hurtful to the LGBT community."

At that point, Shekarchi said, he was still evaluating his options.
House minority leader calls reaction 'a grave distraction'

Shekarchi's decision to remove Quattrocchi from the committee considering the "equity impact" legislation was described as a "measured and fair" response to uphold decorum by spokesman Larry Berman. It was also the least severe of the actions he could have taken, from censure on up, and was not unprecedented.

The response from House Minority Leader Chippendale, R-Foster:

"The reaction to, and resultant decision from the rostrum regarding the inartful exchange between two of our colleagues in a committee hearing six days ago has unleashed a whirlwind which is both a grave distraction from the important issues this institution is grappling with, and a 180-degree departure from the longstanding practice of the House.

"I fear that we have reached a point where the norms that govern this institution and which have made our debates over the years civil, if occasionally heated, have been irretrievably broken," Chippendale said.

Committee assignments are at the discretion of the House speaker, who has the power to appoint and remove a legislator, as was done as recently as last year. Shekarchi removed then-Rep. Carlos Tobon from the House Finance Committee after a WPRI exposé of his undisclosed financial activities.

Former Speaker Nicholas Mattiello removed several lawmakers from their committees who were unwilling to vote for the truck toll legislation, and replaced chairs who publicly criticized him. And the list goes on.

Quattrocchi remains on two other committees.

The stated goal of the legislation at the heart of the current dispute: "A simple and understandable statement demonstrating that the bill sponsor has taken into account the impact, positive or negative, that the legislation will likely have on Rhode Islanders based on their race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age or country of ancestral origin."

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Speaker removes from House committee a Republican who asked fellow lawmaker if she is a pedophile

‘Our state is not your church.’ Arlington, Texas, lawmaker faces backlash over Ramadan vote




Elizabeth Campbell
Thu, March 23, 2023

State Rep. Tony Tinderholt, an Arlington Republican, is facing criticism on social media after he posted that he voted against a resolution to celebrate the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Tinderholt said in a statement posted on his Twitter account that as a combat veteran, he served alongside many translators who were “Muslims and good people.”

“I can also attest that Ramadan was routinely the most violent period during every deployment.”

“Texas and America were founded on Christian principles and my faith as a Christian prevents me from celebrating Ramadan. I want to commend Dan Patrick for choosing not to join the House in this celebration.”

Ramadan, which began Wednesday night, is a time of fasting, prayer and reflection for Muslims throughout the world. It is one of the most significant holy months in the Muslim calendar when it is believed that the prophet Muhammad received the Quran from God.

Tinderholt voted in support of resolutions commemorating Ramadan in 2021 and 2019.

Tinderholt did not respond to requests for comments from the Star-telegram on his vote against the resolution to celebrate Ramadan. But during an interview Friday on the Mark Davis Show on 660-AM The Answer, Tinderholt said he is “finally taking a stand against the left and Democrat chairs who are forcing celebrations of LGBTQ days and religious holidays.

“To celebrate and compel us to do so, it’s just a little bit over the top, and someone has to take a stand, and look, it’s not a comfortable stand. I’ve got over a half a million people attacking me on Twittter right now, but I’m OK with it. We’re doing the right thing. When we’re doing the right thing and the left is mad, it’s OK.”

Davis asked Tinderholt about the sentence in his statement that said that Ramadan was routinely the most violent period during his deployment.

Tinderholt said most Muslims are peaceful. “They are a very gentle religion. They are a very kind culture, but the fundamentalists in the Muslim world use the religion during Ramadan to ramp up and do attacks against Americans and infidels and kill innocent people. Now, let me be clear. As Muslims, that is not the average person it’s a small fraction that do this so quit telling me that I have to celebrate this time.”

Tinderholt also said that the left and the Democrats are trying to force someone to celebrate something when they’ve had a bad experience during that specific holiday every year.

“They’re always trying to force us to celebrate their side, their thing ...” he said. “Every person is an individual, and my personal story is that Ramadan, when I was in combat, was never a very peaceful time.”

Some who criticized Tinderholt on Twitter asked if crime also occurs during the Christian holidays of Christmas and Easter. Others asked about the separation of church and state..

One person wrote, “That’s a shame that you cannot embrace enlightenment as the founders did and celebrate some of the principles of our country, tolerance and religious freedom. Too bad. Our state is not your church.”

“As a Texan, I’m embarrassed you hold power in my state,” another wrote.

The Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations also condemned Tinderholt’s opposition to the resolution.

William White, director of the Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a news release that Tinderholt’s claim that Ramadan is the most violent time of the year is false and insulting to the Muslim community.

“Every elected official has the right to express their sincerely-held religious beliefs, and we welcome that — but insulting and insinuating false information about another faith should be condemned,” he said.

Rep. Salman Bhojani, a Democrat from Euless, wrote a similar resolution celebrating Ramadan. It states the month is a time for spiritual reflection, charitable giving and open houses at mosques to welcome people of other faiths.

Bhojani was elected in November as one of the first Muslims and south Asians to serve in the Texas House.

“I was sad and disappointed to see Representative Tinderholt’s statement today,” Bhojani said in an emailed statement. “Ramadan is a time of spiritual reflection, self-discipline, and acts of kindness and generosity for Muslims across the world. Any description of this holy month other than this is a mischaracterization of a religion of love that millions of people share.

“The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) taught, ‘None of you has faith until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.’”

Bhojani is also championing freedom of religion legislation that would expand the list of optional state holidays and prevent state exams from falling on religious holy days. During a news conference last month, Bhojani said his first priority is to safeguard protections “not just for my faith, but for every faith in Texas.”

Texan smeared two faiths — including his own — with pathetic vote against Ramadan honor | Opinion

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editorial Board
Fri, March 24, 2023 

Arlington Republican Rep. Tony Tinderholt ran for speaker, the top spot in the House, this year. He got smoked, 145-3.

But the race to the bottom? He may already have that one locked up.

Tinderholt was among a handful of Republican representatives to vote Wednesday against a resolution honoring the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and the first fast-breaking dinner scheduled for the Capitol in association with the holiday. He was the only one to go out of his way to put on the record why he did it — and in the unmistakable language of religious bigotry.

“Today, I voted against a resolution made in celebration of Ramadan on the House floor. As a combat veteran, I served beside many local translators who were Muslims and good people,” Tinderholt said in a statement he had included in the House Journal and later repeated on Twitter. “I can also attest that Ramadan was routinely the most violent period during every deployment. Texas and America were founded on Christian principles and my faith as a Christian prevents me from celebrating Ramadan.”

It’s quite a trifecta: blaming an entire religion for wartime violence, shutting out any constituents who don’t share Tinderholt’s faith and diminishing Christianity’s ability to co-exist with other religions.

All that over one of hundreds of resolutions the House will vote on with little or no controversy. They don’t amount to endorsing a religion, or a winning sports team, or whatever the subject is.

Done right, they celebrate something great about our state, small or large. They bring otherwise sparring legislators together to shine the spotlight on their constituents. Among the other resolutions considered Wednesday were honors for Realtors, residents of Buda, Pearsall and Val Verde County.

State Rep. Tony Tinderholt, R-Arlington

Six other Republicans voted no on the Ramadan resolution, including Rep. Lynn Stucky, the Denton Republican whose district also includes Wise County. Unlike Tinderholt, Stucky didn’t go out of the way to make a historical record of his bigotry … er, opposition.

No, Tinderholt took the extra step to insert into the House Journal his official stance and pitiful explanation. And in so doing, he slandered an entire faith practiced by millions of loyal Americans — and bruised the view of his own faith in the process.

The fifth-term Arlington lawmaker wants you to believe that his vote represents some bold strike for Christianity. But no sensible person confuses a resolution honoring a sacred time for hundreds of thousands of fellow Texans as some betrayal of any other religion.

And, it turns out, Tinderholt’s streak of self-righteous pomposity — if real — is pretty new. He said nothing about resolutions honoring Ramadan that the House passed in 2019 and 2021, according to House Journal entries.

Perhaps his faith has deepened. Or perhaps, having lost the speaker vote so terribly and facing even greater irrelevance as a lawmaker, his only political option is to double-down among bigots who would applaud standing in the way of extending such a basic recognition to a diverse array of Texans and their interests.

Tinderholt tried to explain himself Friday to conservative radio host Mark Davis (a Star-Telegram contributor). With his usual bluster and incoherence, he first said it was the consequence of having Democrats as committee chairs.

The decades-long bipartisan tradition of including the minority party in governance of the House is a sore spot for some Republicans. The resolution’s author, Houston-area Democratic Rep. Suleman Lalani, is no committee chair. He moved for a vote on his resolution — a common step to ensure resolutions are heard in a timely manner. More than 135 of the House’s 150 members assented. (Later Wednesday, Lalani briefly presided over the House, as most members have the honor of doing at some point. That does not make him a “Democrat chair.”)

Tinderholt then told Davis that he was “done with the left trying to force us and compel us” to celebrate topics such as LGBTQ rights. It sounds like his fatigue may actually be driven by frustration over pretending to represent any constituents who aren’t like him. Perhaps the voters in House District 94 should relieve Tinderholt of this burden next time he asks for their votes.

Leaked Emails Show GOP Lawmaker, Anti-Trans Activists Discuss Holy War

1.4k
Christopher Wiggins
Thu, March 23, 2023

Activists in Handmaids Tale outfits

Recently leaked emails reveal an alarming coalition of far right-wing extremists, Christian nationalists, anti-trans lobbyists, and elected officials in cahoots, using language rooted in religion to paint Americans at war with the LGBTQ+ community.

South Dakota GOP state Rep. Fred Deutsch’s emails with anti-trans lobbyists and other legislators about anti-trans policies are so steeped in religious rhetoric that they could be excerpts from The Handsmaid Tale, VICE News reports.

Christian nationalists, one expert told the outlet, believe that they are fighting a holy war.

Deutsch emailed 18 anti-trans activists, doctors, and lawyers in 2019 with the text of a proposed bill prohibiting doctors from providing gender-affirming medical care to transgender children under 16.

“I have no doubt this will be an uphill battle when we get to session,” Deutsch said, according to Mother Jones. “As always, please do not share this with the media. The longer we can fly under the radar, the better.”

A trove of emails between Deutsch and anti-trans activists and organizations included that message, the outlet reports.

The reports about the emails demonstrate how activists helped shape Deutsch’s repressive legislation, passed into law in February, as well as the tactics, alliances, and goals of a movement that has tried to impose its agenda on the nation as a whole.

Some group members urged Deutsch to make the bill even more restrictive through messages exchanged.

The goal was to block access to gender-affirming care through legislation before that community became a proverbial popular political football for Republicans through merely existing.

“Know that many have prayed and are praying for you this day. Do not back down, nor should you be afraid. Know that the Lord is with you. The children of South Dakota belong to him. He is jealous over them. Let his jealousies be spoken forth in the House of Representatives of South Dakota today so that his children would be made safe. Know you are HIS representative today. Do not be afraid. Stand firm in what is right,” Vernadette Broyles, president of the anti-trans Children and Parental Rights Campaign, wrote in 2020.

“Today, we do battle on the S.D. House Floor. Thank you for all your work and your prayers,” Deutsch responded.

According to VICE, some exchanges featured language evoking war and war imagery.

As anti-trans hate became mainstream in 2022, onlookers began to wonder whether this was a sign of the beginning of a genocide. Trans issues have been targeted with unprecedented enthusiasm. A number of hate groups, far-right pundits, and conservative legislators have portrayed trans individuals as a threat to children, spreading false stories about what it means to be trans.

There are already many barriers to transgender issues in the U.S. This year’s legislative session has seen 470 anti-trans bills introduced nationwide, including several already signed into law banning trans healthcare.

This year, South Dakota Gov. Kristina Noem signed a gender-affirming care ban, which resembles the so-called Vulnerable Child Protection Act, introduced by Deutsch in 2019, VICE notes.

Republicans continue to cast themselves as protectors of children from a “woke liberal ideology” that in their minds seeks to make straight children queer.

Huawei makes breakthroughs in design tools for 14nm chips -media

Reuters
Thu, March 23, 2023 

SHENZHEN, China -Huawei Technologies Co Ltd has made breakthroughs in electronic design automation (EDA) tools for chips produced at and above 14-nanometre technology, Caijing reported on Friday, citing a speech by a senior executive.

Huawei will complete testing on the tools this year, rotating chairman Xu Zhijun said in a speech on Feb. 28, the Chinese financial news magazine reported. Huawei has developed 78 tools related to chip hardware and software, the report added.

The company did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.

The announcement comes as Huawei and other Chinese technology companies rush to localise their supply chains in the face of mounting U.S. sanctions.

According to a transcript of Xu's remarks published by Caijing, Huawei cooperated with domestic EDA companies to create the software, "basically realising the localisation of EDA tools above 14nm."

Chip design companies use EDA software to produce the blueprints for chips before they are mass manufactured at fabs.

Huawei will also let partners and customers use the software, Xu added.

Chips produced at the 14nm level were first introduced in smartphones in the mid-2010s and are two to three generations behind leading-edge technology.

Huawei, a major supplier of equipment used in 5G telecommunications networks, has been the target of successive rounds of U.S. export controls since 2019, restricting its supply of chips and chip-design tools from U.S. companies.

The EDA software market is dominated by three overseas firms - Cadence Design Systems Inc and Synopsys Inc, which are headquartered in the United States, and Mentor Graphics, which is owned by Germany's Siemens AG.

China is home to a handful of domestic EDA software makers, but experts do not consider them globally competitive.

All three overseas EDA companies fell subject to Washington's sanctions against Huawei in 2020.

When the restrictions went into effect, the company's chip design division lost access to software and updates that would enable it to design low-node processors for its smartphones, as well as access to advanced manufacturing tools at chip production fabs.

The company's smartphone division saw sales tank as a result.

(Reporting by David Kirton in Shenzhen, Josh Horwitz and Brenda Goh in Shanghai; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Jamie Freed)

Watchdog: Israel promotes bids for 1,000 ILLEGAL settlement homes


A general view of the West Bank Jewish settlement of Efrat, Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. An Israeli watchdog group says that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government has authorized construction bids for over a thousand new homes in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem. 

(AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean, File) 


ISABEL DEBRE
Fri, March 24, 2023 

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government authorized construction bids for over a thousand new homes in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, a watchdog group reported Friday, despite an Israeli pledge to halt settlement construction as part of efforts to curb a deadly wave of violence in the territory.

The Israel Land Authority published the tenders earlier this week for the construction of 940 homes in the West Bank settlements of Efrat and Beitar Ilit, as well as 89 homes in the Gilo settlement, which lies over the 1967 line on the southern edge of the contested capital of Jerusalem. The large settlement of Efrat sits deep in the West Bank, near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem.

Palestinians seek these lands, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, for a future independent state alongside Israel — a longstanding international goal. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry assailed the move as a betrayal of Netanyahu's vow to freeze settlement construction, showing “official disregard for American and international reactions.”

The anti-settlement Israeli group Peace Now publicized the construction bids on Friday.

“This is yet another harmful and unnecessary construction initiative,” the group said, accusing the Israeli government of “trampling on the possibility of a future political agreement, and on our relations with the U.S. and friendly countries.”

There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu's office.

The new affront to the Palestinians came just a week after Israeli and Palestinian officials met in Egypt’s southern resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh in an effort to calm rising tensions ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. After the meeting, Israel repeated a pledge made at a similar February summit in Aqaba, Jordan to temporarily freeze the approval of new settlement units in the West Bank.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry criticized the tender approvals as “a blatant departure and deliberate sabotage of the understandings that were reached between the Palestinian and Israeli sides under American auspices.”

Last month, the Israeli government granted approval for over 7,000 new homes in Jewish settlements in the West Bank, including in four unauthorized outposts — despite a U.N. Security Council statement sharply criticizing Israeli settlement expansion and rising opposition from Israel’s allies, including the United States.

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief journalists, described the publication of tenders this week as procedural, saying, “All of the agreements settled during the recent joint summits in Jordan and Egypt are being respected fully.”

Israel's government, the most right-wing and religiously conservative in its history, has said it aims to entrench Israeli military rule in the West Bank, boost settlement construction and erase the differences for Israelis between life in the settlements and within the country's internationally recognized borders. Netanyahu's coalition includes ultranationalist settler leaders who live in the West Bank.

The international community, along with the Palestinians, considers settlement construction illegal or illegitimate. Over 700,000 Israelis now live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem.

The settlement construction bids come against a background of heightened tensions with the Palestinians and a national crisis in Israel over a government plan to overhaul the judicial system, which critics fear will move Israel toward autocracy.

Since the start of 2023, at least 86 Palestinians, both militants and civilians, have been killed in Israeli raids throughout the West Bank — making it the most deadly start to the year in over two decades. At least 13 civilians and one police officer were killed during the same period in Palestinian attacks against Israelis.

How far-right American Jews are enabling Netanyahu’s court takeover

Chris McGreal in New York

THE GUARDIAN
Fri, March 24, 2023 

Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

A prominent member of the Israeli parliament has a warning for America’s Jewish community: one of the greatest threats to Israeli democracy comes from within its own ranks.

Related: Concern over violence as Palestinians prepare for Ramadan in Jerusalem

On a visit to New York to rally opposition against the “judicial coup” by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, rabbi Gilad Kariv cautioned that “rightwing forces in the Jewish community in America and ultra-right players” were driving and financing the push toward a political takeover of Israel’s supreme court and nationalist policies to tighten control over the occupied Palestinian territories.

“There are major Jewish players here in America that are coming from the American far right who are deeply involved in pushing this reform. If liberal and progressive and democratic Jewish forces around the world will not stand together with us, other players will influence events in a much more serious way. That’s a real battle for the future of the Jewish state,” he told the Guardian.

Kariv, a Labour party member of the Knesset who sits on its constitution, law and justice committee, pointed to the libertarian Kohelet Policy Forum as the architect of the judicial reforms that have prompted unprecedented mass protests by Israelis who say they are a threat to democracy.

“The Kohelet Forum, which is the main ultra-conservative thinktank that designed this judiciary reform, is fully supported by the leading Jewish donors of the American ultra-conservative camp,” said Kariv.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz revealed two years ago that the organisation is partly funded by two Jewish American billionaires, Arthur Dantchik and Jeffrey Yass, who made their fortunes as founders of a global financial firm, Susquehanna International Group, including by investing in the invention of TikTok. Both have funded rightwing causes and politicians in the US.

Kariv at his office in the Knesset in Jerusalem on 24 November 2021. 

Photograph: Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images

The Kohelet Policy Forum was founded in 2012 by an American Israeli, Moshe Koppel, who has described it as “the brains of the Israeli right wing”. It was unknown to most Israelis until the recent protests shone a spotlight on its work attempting to shift almost all aspects of governance to the right, including undermining free education and cutting welfare.

The Haaretz investigation said American donors have given tens of millions of dollars to Kohelet through US-based organisations that shield their identities. Yass and Dantchik have also been influential through their ties to leading Republicans in shifting US policy on Israel including in providing the Trump administration with legal justifications for recognition of settlements in the occupied territories.

The moves to weaken the Israeli supreme court are also influenced by another US organisation, the Tikvah Fund led by Elliott Abrams, a neoconservative former senior official under several Republican presidents who played an important role in the US’s bloody involvement in Central America in the 1980s and one of the intellectual architects of the invasion of Iraq 20 years ago.

The proposed reforms to give politicians the power to appoint supreme court judges and constrain the court’s powers to rule against the government have already drawn criticism from some Jewish American religious leaders and community groups, and some longstanding supporters of the Israeli right. They include Miriam Adelson, the billionaire widow of one of casino mogul Sheldon Adelson who founded the Israeli rightwing newspaper Israel Hayom and funded settlements.

The Kohelet Forum … the main ultra-conservative thinktank that designed this judiciary reform, is fully supported by the leading Jewish donors of the American ultra-conservative camp

Rabbi Gilad Kariv

Leading Jewish organisations also refused to meet the Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, during his visit to the US earlier this month after he called for Israel to “wipe out” a Palestinian town. Earlier this week, Smotrich prompted further criticism when he claimed “there is no such thing as a Palestinian nation”.

But Kariv said many in America’s Jewish community have remained silent because they have long defended Israel – no matter who is in power – by saying they back the country not the government. He said that the involvement of wealthy American rightwingers means it is now “the right, the duty, of American Jews” to speak out over events in Israel.

“As one of the Israeli legislators that deals on a daily basis in the last two months with this judiciary takeover, for us it is clear that right now there are only two effective tools that will help us to either block this reform or to force the government and its coalition to sit around the table and reach an agreement or compromise,” he said.

Kariv said one such tool is the unprecedented level of civil protest in Israel. The other is “the voice of Jewish communities around the world, the voice of Jewish politicians in western countries”.

Kariv is a rabbi in the Reform movement, the largest Jewish denomination in the US but a relatively small one in Israel. The president of the Union for Reform Judaism in the US, rabbi Rick Jacobs, invited him to New York to rally support within the Reform movement for protests against Netanyahu’s government.

“One of the things that’s a bit surprising is how many Israelis who previously would have said: ‘You’re in the diaspora. You can say and think whatever you want but you don’t have a right to intervene.’ Many of those very same people are crying out saying, ‘We need to hear you. We need to know that you stand with us,’” said Jacobs.

“This is a moment where it’s not that we disagree with a policy or a bill in the Knesset, or an individual in the government. This is a moment where the very integrity of the foundation of the Jewish democratic state is being threatened.”

Benjamin Netanyahu is back and he's 'breaking' Israel

James Rothwell

THE TELEGRAPH.UK
Thu, March 23, 2023 

Benjamin Netanyahu made a surprise return to the premiership in elections last November

It's just after lunchtime in Tel Aviv and an unlikely band of rebels has taken over the streets: one thousand furious, flag-waving grandmothers.

"My beloved Israel is falling apart - it's even stronger than falling apart, it's ruined," 77-year-old Mikki, a grandmother-of-six, tells The Telegraph as she pauses for a rest on a park bench.

"The country is turning into a fascist and anti-democratic place," warns another grandma, Esther Shalev, who then mutters darkly: "I hate him. He's destroying the country."

Both women were alluding to Benjamin Netanyahu, the smooth-talking juggernaut of Israeli politics who managed a surprise comeback to the premiership in elections last November.

But victory for the man known as "King Bibi" has carried a severe price: to secure a majority and regain the throne, he has ended up forming the most right-wing coalition in the country's history.

That risky move has plunged him into a bitter, divisive battle with thousands of Israelis, notably over his government's ongoing plans to overhaul the legal system.

It has also exposed a much deeper rift at the heart of Israeli society between the secular, liberal middle class and poorer religious conservatives, prompting Isaac Herzog, the Israeli president, to warn that the nation is on the brink of "civil war."

Police detain a demonstrator during the "Day of Shutdown" protest on Thursday in Tel Aviv - RONEN ZVULUN/REUTERS

To make matters even more tense, the furore comes as the country faces a major security crisis with the Palestinians that could spiral into open warfare.

Amid the turmoil, on Thursday Mr Netanyahu travels to Britain for his first meeting with Rishi Sunak since being re-elected, with the focus said to be on forming a joint strategy against Iran.

At the same time, back in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, thousands of Israelis took to the streets en masse to escalate a months-long protest against the government's overhaul of the court system, burning tyres, blocking roadways and clashing with police.
'This is not the country I inherited'

Within weeks of being sworn in, Mr Netanyahu's bid to impose his flagship policy - a major overhaul of the country's legal system - saw him besieged by tens of thousands of demonstrators urging him to abandon what they claim is an existential threat to Israeli democracy.

Protesters have blocked roads and train stations, threatened to stop Mr Netanyahu from flying out of Ben Gurion airport and have even launched kayak expeditions to his private villa to voice their discontent.

During one bizarre episode, Sara Netanyahu, the prime minister's wife, was trapped inside a hair salon by protesters in Tel Aviv as they chanted: “The country is burning and Sara is getting a haircut." She was later rescued from the salon by Israeli security forces.

The reforms, critics claim, will "destroy" Israeli democracy by weakening the supreme court and boosting the government's influence over the appointment of judges.

Israelis protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul the Israel's judicial system in Tel Aviv in March - Ohad Zwigenberg/AP

Mr Netanyahu denies this, insisting the overhaul will strip the courts of what he claims is a longstanding left-wing bias. Other supporters of the reform claim that their impact on the rule of law has been exaggerated and that they simply bring the system into line with other Western democracies.

At the same time, Mr Netanyahu continues to stand trial on corruption and fraud charges which he strongly denies, in what is proving to be an extremely lengthy and complex legal process. Some of his most ardent critics have claimed that the legal reform package is a covert attempt to scrap his trial altogether.

On Thursday, Israel's parliament passed the first of several laws that make up its contentious judicial overhaul.

The legislation would make it harder for an Israeli leader to be deemed unfit to rule.

Critics say the law is tailor-made for Mr Netanyahu, encourages corruption and deepens a gaping chasm between Israelis over the judicial overhaul.

It stipulates that a prime minister can only be classified as unfit to rule for health or mental reasons and that only he or his government can make that decision.

It comes after the country’s attorney general has faced growing calls by Netanyahu opponents to declare him unfit to rule over his legal problems. The attorney general has already barred the prime minister from involvement in the legal overhaul, saying he is at risk of a conflict of interest because of his corruption trial.

A former special forces commando who was born one year after the founding of Israel, Mr Netanyahu's own history is intertwined with the country. Many Israelis simply cannot imagine a political landscape without him, and even his strongest critics concede that in previous decades he was an extraordinary advocate for Israel.

But in more recent years, a string of scandals involving Mr Netanyahu and his colourful family have scrubbed off much of that sheen. At the centre of his corruption trial is the claim that during his previous terms he accepted bribes, mainly cigars, jewellery and champagne cases, from various businessmen.

He is also accused of granting regulatory favours to a telecoms company in exchange for positive media coverage. Mr Netanyahu, 73, has dismissed all the accusations as a "witch-hunt."

His wife Sara, 64, has been convicted for misusing state funds to have meals delivered to the family home, despite the Netanyahus having a personal chef. And in 2020, a former housemaid filed a lawsuit against the Netanyahus, alleging that Sara mistreated staff by screaming at them and forbidding them to eat or drink on the job. Ms Netanyahu has denied mistreating staff.

A protester holds a placard that says "Jewish and racist, right" during an anti Judicial reform night protest in Tel Aviv - Eyal Warshavsky/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

Another major source of unrest in Israel is the presence of extremists such as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich in Mr Netanyahu's government - the culmination of a long-term drift towards the far-Right in Israeli politics.

Despite having convictions for anti-Arab racism and supporting Jewish terrorism, Mr Ben-Gvir is currently serving as Israel's security minister. Meanwhile, Mr Smotrich, a self-styled "fascist homophobe" who has claimed that "there is no such thing as a Palestinian people" is the coalition's finance minister.

Both men enjoy huge support among Israel's religious and settler communities, which handed them strong results in November's elections and plenty of leverage in the coalition talks that followed.

Without them, Mr Netanyahu would not have managed to return to power. But some Israelis feel that by allowing extremists into government he has simply gone too far.
'Every person has to choose whether they are standing with the regime or against the regime'

Dressed in jeans and a baggy leather jacket, Naveh Shabtay hardly stands out among the dozens of teenagers heading into a Tel Aviv military base to begin national service.

But unlike the others, Naveh has packed his bags for jail life: once through the door, he will announce he is a conscientious objector and be marched off to a military prison cell.

Asked why he is refusing, Naveh cites the ongoing Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza - but also cites Mr Netanyahu's pact with extremists as a key factor in his decision.

"We can see a fascist government is rising today, with our national defence minister being part of a party that is called Jewish Power," Naveh said, referring to Mr Ben Gvir's "Otzma Yehudit" party. "If it sounds similar to White Power it's because it's basically the same."

"We're in a situation where every person in this country has to choose whether they are standing with the regime or against the regime, it's no longer a decision that is made with far-leftists," he adds.

Naveh Shabtay, 19, a refusenik or an Israeli military draft evader for political reasons, is seen moments before entering the recruiting military base in Tel Aviv - Quique Kierszenbaum

"Refuseniks" are a longstanding tradition in Israel's vibrant left-wing movement, and one that has typically been more of an annoyance than a threat to the Israel Defence Forces [IDF].

But according to Mesarvot, a grassroots organisation that supports conscientious objectors, this year the movement is expanding across the political spectrum amid unease over the new government.

"Since this new government we saw a very steep rise in people approaching us, both conscripts and reservists asking for our help either in refusing to serve publicly or for finding another way out," Nimrod Flashenberg, the group's spokesman, said.

"We've seen an even more significant increase since the legal overhaul."

Even more worryingly for Mr Netanyahu, hundreds of IDF reservists, including elite troops, have threatened to stop turning up for duty from this Sunday unless the legal reform package is scrapped.

This includes Israeli Air Force pilots, who unlike the infantry must train on an almost weekly basis and are heavily relied upon by the armed forces.

Even some of Israel's most prestigious veterans have joined the protest movement, including special forces troops who took part in the legendary Entebbe operation that was led by Yoni, Mr Netanyahu's late brother.

It is unclear how severely the refusals by reservists and raw recruits will affect Israel's combat capabilities, as it appears most will only stop reporting for duty once the reforms have been passed.

But it still comes at a point where Israel is facing potentially its most severe security crisis in decades. And some Israelis are so concerned that - with the government's approval - they are taking security into their own hands.
'This is a very dangerous direction'

Tali, an Israeli catering assistant, is buying her first gun. Shortly after lunchtime, the 31-year-old slips into a discrete shop in West Jerusalem where dozens of firearms are laid out under a glass counter.

It's the last step in a six-month application process for Tali, and one that she did not embark on lightly. Her husband already owns a firearm, she says, and she can hardly bear to even touch it.

Guns for sale are seen at a Jerusalem shooting ranges 

- Quique Kierszenbaum

"It was a difficult decision," says Tali, a resident of Jerusalem's flashpoint Old City. "There are two reasons I'm buying it: The first is for when I am driving, because I work for a catering company in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank], where I feel exposed. And the second reason is for my home. At the end of the day, I want to defend my children if someone enters."

As Israel conducts nearly-daily raids on Palestinian militants in the West Bank, which have led to a spate of deadly revenge attacks on Israelis civilians, Mr Netanyahu has encouraged citizens like Tali to arm themselves in case they need to return fire against militants.

Israel is also heading into a flashpoint period in which Easter, Ramadan and Passover coincide. It means an increased risk of clashes between Palestinians and Israelis in Jerusalem, as was the case in May 2021 when violent scuffles at the al-Aqsa mosque compound escalated into a full-scale conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Just three months into 2023, dozens of Palestinians and Israelis have been killed in a fresh escalation of the conflict, and it is feared that a major new confrontation, such as a Palestinian "intifada," could be on the way.

The government plans to ease restrictions on who can obtain a weapon

 - Quique Kierszenbaum

Mr Netanyahu says he hopes to reduce the risk to Israelis with his gun permit reforms, which may prove to be a highly popular policy for a government which has at times been overwhelmed by criticism.

But Palestinians and some Israeli critics of Mr Netanyahu fear that allowing more citizens to carry guns will encourage them to take the law into their own hands.

Ahmad Tibi, a prominent Palestinian politician with Israeli citizenship, told The Telegraph: "This is a very dangerous direction, it will cause more and more killings, encouraging citizens to take the law into their own hands and shoot Arabs, any Arabs."

As Mr Netanyahu heads for Britain on Thursday, he may perhaps feel somewhat relieved to leave behind the mass demonstrations, army rebels and mounting security headaches.

But despite a loose commitment from Israeli and Palestinian leaders to avoid escalation over Ramadan and Passover, and rumours that a compromise on the legal reforms are in the wings, all three crises will still be waiting for him when he gets back.

Israel's "grandmothers for democracy" protest on Wednesday - Oded Balilty/AP

Wednesday's highly unusual "Grandmothers for democracy" march also reflects how Mr Netanyahu's reforms have met far wider opposition than he expected - and that the bombastic Israeli leader may have bitten off more than he can chew.

"This is not the country I inherited," says grandmother Ms Shalev, who has followed Mr Netanyahu's career since his early days as an Israeli special forces commando.

"Now one of my grandchildren is saying he doesn't want to live in Israel. That breaks my heart."

Israel passes law protecting prime minister from removal


03/23/2023

DW

March 23, 2023

Israeli lawmakers have passed legislation that drastically narrows the circumstances required to remove Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or a successor from office.

Israel's parliament, the Knesset, on Thursday passed legislation that would significantly limit the conditions under which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be deemed unfit to govern.

The law — the first of several set to overhaul the judiciary — is believed to be intended to stop the Supreme Court or the Attorney General's Office from influencing possible impeachment.
What the law entails

The legislation stipulates that a three-quarters majority in parliament or the Cabinet would be needed to remove a prime minister from office — and only for psychological or other health reasons.

It was approved by the 120-seat Knesset in a 61-to-47 vote, with the remaining lawmakers either absent or abstaining from the vote, and is part of a series of legislative measures that opponents say will imperil judicial independence in Israel.

The non-partisan Israel Democracy Institute said the previously existing situation could have led to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who was appointed by the previous government, asserting that the prime minister was unfit to govern.

That could have happened if she decided that Netanyahu was trying to halt three court cases against him for corruption.

The terms of the new law — which could still face a legal challenge — preclude this, instead providing the government with guidance about what to do in the event of a non-functioning prime minister.

Baharav-Miara last month said that Netanyahu must stand back from his coalition's push for a judicial overhaul because of a potential conflict of interest arising from his trials.

Scholz concerned over Israel's judicial reform plans  01:41

The prime minister's opponents claim that he is seeking to use the wider judicial reforms to halt the cases that he faces.

Netanyahu has denied all the charges against him, claiming that they are a politicized bid to oust him from office.

What are the wider changes being proposed?

The government's plan to overhaul the judicial system has plunged Israel into one of the worst domestic crises in its near 75-year history.

It would give the government more power in selecting Supreme Court judges, and Netanyahu wants it ratified by April 2.

Opponents of the legal changes say the government — Israel's most right-wing ever — is seeking to erode the separation of powers in Israel, putting the country on a path toward autocracy.

Netanyahu's administration says the changes are needed to restore a balance between the executive and judicial branches, claiming that liberal judges have become too interventionist in the running of the country.

The prime minister this week announced a softening of his overhaul plan — limiting to two the number of judges his administration can choose without support from at least one opposition member and one judge.

However, the opposition has said it still intends to challenge the legislation in the Supreme Court.

Protesters launched further demonstrations on Thursday, blocking roads and setting tires ablaze.

Tens of thousands of people have turned out for weekly protests against the reforms each Saturday night for more than two months.

rc/es (AP, Reuters)