Thread by @I_am_the_Story

⭐️Prime Minister of #Israel Netanyahu accuses the #US of funding protest rallies against judicial overhaul
#Thread
#IsraelProtests

1. A senior government official in Prime Minister Benjamin #Netanyahu’s govt. said that the mass protests against the government’s controversial judicial overhaul were partially funded by the #Biden administration.
#US #IsraelProtests

2. Israeli Netanyahu’s son Yair Netanyahu accused the US State Department provides grant money to the Movement for Quality Government, an organization that has been leading the protests against the judicial overhaul.
#Israel #US #IsraelProtests

3. However, that funding to the "Movement for Quality Government" nonprofit began during the Trump administration, and the State Department said it goes specifically toward democracy training programs in Israeli schools.
#US #IsraelProtests #Israel

4. But the #US taxpayer funds have been granted to the Movement for Quality Government (MQG), which has participated in the protests that have rocked Israel for weeks. The protests began after Netanyahu, whose right-wing coalition won a commanding majority in recent elections,… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

5. The Israeli left has reacted in outrage — even calling Netanyahu’s legal reforms a “coup”, because it has generally regarded the judiciary as a bastion of leftist ideology and secular values since the early 1990s.
#US #IsraelProtests #Israel

6. In addition to blocking traffic, protesters have, at times, adopted more radical tactics, such as trapping a member of the legislature in her home — and, more recently, trapping Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, in a hair salon.
#US #IsraelProtests #Israel

7. The Biden administration has suggested that it opposes the reforms, though many of the proposed changes simply parallel U.S. law. Left-wing Jewish groups in the U.S. have supported the ongoing protests as well.
#US #IsraelProtests #Israel

8. Many of these reforms already exist under the U.S. Constitution. Judicial review of congressional legislation, for example, is not an unlimited power, and Congress can “override” Supreme Court decisions by amending the Constitution. (Israel does not have a formal constitution;… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

9. Likewise, judicial appointments in the U.S. are entirely controlled by the government, the president, and the Senate.
#US #IsraelProtests #Israel

10. But now details of the US State Department funding the nonprofit "Movement for Quality Government" has emerged as MQG is directly involved in arranging the logistics and crowds for protest rallies against judicial reforms proposed by the Netanyahu government.
#US… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

11. The documents indicate that, since 2020, the US state dept. has sent over $38,000 to the Movement for Quality Government (MQG), the Israeli nonprofit stoking nationwide anti-Netanyahu protests that have seen protesters clash with police and target Netanyahu’s family members.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

12. MQG is seeking to takedown Netanyahu’s government over his support for major reforms to the Israeli supreme court that would significantly limit its power. The organization petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court earlier this year to oust Netanyahu, claiming he is unfit for office… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

13. The Movement for Quality Government in Israel is an Israeli non-profit organization that claims a membership of about 17,000. Formed as a protest movement in March 1990 during the coalition crisis, it is today the leading public petitioner to the mqgisrael.org… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

14. Netanyahu and his allies say the plan will restore a balance between the judicial and executive branches and rein in what they see as an interventionist court with liberal sympathies.
Critics say the plan upends Israel's fragile system of checks and outlookindia.com/international/…… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

15. The US State Department, which confirmed the funding, calls the group a nonpartisan organization, but its work opposing Netanyahu raises questions about how the group was able to obtain U.S. funding.
#ISRAEL #US #IsraelProtests

16. Even before MQG emerged as the leading force behind the current wave of anti-Netanyahu protests, it made a name for itself as a leading critic of the Israeli right, which has long seen Netanyahu as its leader.
#IsraelProtests #US #Israel

17. Given the Biden administration’s chilly diplomatic relationship with Netanyahu—which includes repeated criticism of Israeli settlement construction and the decision to launch an unprecedented FBI probe into Israel’s anti-terrorism operations—the U.S. abcnews.go.com/International/…… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

18. During the Obama administration, the State Department was caught deleting emails that showed it funded the OneVoice Movement, a liberal group that was waging an anti-Netanyahu smear campaign at the time.
#IsraelProtests #US #Israel

19. Interestingly enough, Benjamin Netanyahu has not been extended an audience of visit invite by Joe Biden US Govt. to date and any such plans have been put on hold by the US state dept, due to ongoing protests against judicial reforms.

20. In addition to this a number of left-leaning nonprofits and NGOs are fueling the protests which are funded by the open society foundation of George Soros. Most prominent names are Gisha, Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), Adalah, Yesh Din, Ir Amim, Mada al-Carmel,… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…