Netanyahu’s tough sell

Netanyahu is under pressure from his hardline supporters to stem the power of courts [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Benjamin Netanyahu may have blinked — a little — in his push to overhaul Israel’s judiciary. He’s under intense pressure from his hardline religious and nationalist supporters to stem the power of courts that he says are the last bastion of liberal thinking in a nation whose leadership has swung sharply right. Key Reading: [Netanyahu Seeks to Change How Judges Are Named, Then Stop Revamp]( [Netanyahu Says Bet on Israel Deepening Ties With Saudi Arabia]( Israel Faces Showdown Between Judges and Government Over New Law]( [Netanyahu on Judges, Saudi Arabia, AI: Full Interview (Video)]( But hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets in the nation’s biggest-ever anti-government protests in a fight to protect the judiciary’s powers and keep it independent. In an interview with Bloomberg yesterday, the prime minister vowed to push ahead with a plan to remake a committee that selects judges, which opponents say will give politicians too much power over what should be an independent branch of government. While seeking to project an image of a leader who remains above the political fray, he appeared to back down from pledges to give parliament the right to overrule the Supreme Court and let ministers appoint their own legal advisers. The result would avoid the extremes of either “the most activist judicial court on the planet” or a legislature that can “just knock out any decision that the court makes,” he said. While that may sound like middle ground, however, to many of the throngs of people who’ve demonstrated for seven months against the judicial overhaul, it’s exactly the dissembling from a leader they despise. Investors didn't seem convinced that tensions were over, with the shekel dropping and bond yields rising today. Netanyahu, who also said he intended to forge closer ties with Saudi Arabia despite a deteriorating relationship with Palestinians, said his approach would bring “peace, prosperity, and security” for his country. But his opponents fear he will only be emboldened to steer Israel further to the right if he and his allies pack courts with jurists ready to do his government’s bidding. — [Ethan Bronner]( Protesters carry Israeli flags and banners during a demonstration outside Israel's parliament in Jerusalem on July 24. Photographer: Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg [Sign up]( for our twice-weekly newsletter Next Africa, and if you are enjoying this newsletter, sign up [here](. Global Headlines Attacks by Ukrainian maritime drones on a Russian oil tanker and a naval vessel at the weekend show the footprint of President Vladimir Putin’s war is [growing fast](. The strikes put at risk Russia’s commodity exports via the Black Sea for the first time, a route that accounts for most of the grain and 15% to 20% of the oil Russia sells daily on global markets. Wheat [prices]( rose. - Read more of our rolling coverage of the war in Ukraine [here](. Donald Trump attacked Washington DC as a “filthy and crime-ridden embarrassment” as the leading Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential race seeks to [move his federal trial]( on conspiracy and obstruction charges to a more politically friendly venue. He called for the federal government to take over the capital, which has limited home-rule powers under congressional supervision — a move he said would be unpopular with potential jurors. - More than half of Americans, or 51%, say Trump tried to stay in office [through illegal means](, a CBS News/YouGov poll shows. The combination of higher interest rates and renewed restraint in government spending is threatening to [strangle expansion]( in the euro zone, raising the risk of a nasty recession. The delayed pain from interest-rate hikes will peak in 2024 to inflict a 3.8% hit on the economy, according to Bloomberg Economics. Depending on energy prices, the removal of support measures could amplify that closer to 5%. British bank HSBC’s head of public affairs [criticized]( the US at a closed-door event for strong-arming the UK into cutting back business dealings with China, and accused the British government of being weak for going along with it, sources say. Sherard Cowper-Coles, a former British ambassador who also chairs the China-Britain Business Council lobby, apologized for his comments in a statement. He is the latest in a number of company executives, from Nvidia to Siemens, to push back against US-led moves to curb business with China. Best of Bloomberg Opinion - [Sunak Isn’t Playing Nice Conservative Anymore: Martin Ivens]( - [Courts Alone Won’t Knock Out Pakistan’s Imran Khan: Mihir Sharma]( - [Echo of Australia Gas Ban Rings Across the Globe: David Fickling]( Taliban leaders in Afghanistan find themselves sparring with neighbors as the realities of global warming hit home. A dispute with Iran over depleted water resources is further [destabilizing]( an already volatile region. A border clash in May prompted the Taliban to send thousands of troops and hundreds of suicide bombers to the area, according to a source. Members of the Taliban at Bakhshabad dam in May. Photographer: Mohsen Karimi/AFP/Getty Images Explainers You Can Use - [It’s Not Just Trump: Other World Leaders Got Into Legal Trouble]( - [Musk Says He May Need Surgery, Will Get MRI on Back and Neck]( - [Bankers Chasing Deals in China Turn to ‘Throwing Eggs’ Card Game]( Niger’s coup leaders partially closed its airspace, warning of an attack by a “foreign power” as a [deadline passed]( yesterday to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum. The West African nation’s neighbors had threatened intervention, and while there was no sign of any military action as yet, the junta said action against them was unfolding. Tune in to Bloomberg TV’s Balance of Power at 5pm to 6pm ET weekdays with Washington correspondents [Annmarie Hordern]( and [Joe Mathieu](. You can watch and listen on Bloomberg channels and online [here](. News to Note - An unusual sighting of a Russian military jet in North Korea is [stoking concern]( that Kim Jong Un is selling Putin weapons as ties strengthen between the sanctioned states. - The Spanish far-right party Vox pledged it [wouldn’t impede]( efforts to unseat Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, potentially widening the options for the conservative People’s Party as it seeks a route to power. - A fresh [fiscal showdown]( is brewing in Washington that threatens to complicate the Federal Reserve’s policy making and strengthen Fitch Ratings’ warning that self-inflicted wounds are tarnishing America’s standing in the global economy. - The US government lab that last year reached a long-sought milestone in nuclear fusion — achieving a controlled reaction that yielded more energy than it took to produce — has [repeated the achievement](, after months of near-misses. - Liberian President George Weah will face over a dozen opponents when the country votes in an Oct. 10 general election amid [mounting anger]( over corruption and soaring food prices. Thanks to the 39 people who answered our Friday quiz and congratulations to Thomas Hawley, who was the first to name Hungary as the European country for whose citizens the US tightened entry rules last week. And finally ... Saudi Arabia has commissioned a Dutch horticultural company to create a synthetic [oasis]( to feed Neom, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s futuristic new city being built in the desert. Van Der Hoeven has been awarded a $120 million contract for two test facilities that will use novel technologies such as a solar and seawater-driven cooling system to significantly lower water consumption and enable food production throughout the extreme summer heat. Its advanced greenhouses are intended to help meet Neom’s goal of producing over 300,000 tons of fruit and vegetables a year. A sign in a window of the NEOM pop-up store at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Jan. 20. 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