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ISRAEL — MASS PROTESTS, GENERAL STRIKE, GOVERNMENT ON ROCKS
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to limit the Israeli Supreme Court’s powers to rule against the legislature and the executive, including by allowing the Knesset to override Supreme Court decisions with a simple majority of votes. The effect would be to neuter the independence of the court.
Netanyahu’s government might not get the chance to implement the plan. National security minister , who leads the minor Otzma Yehudit party, on which Netanyahu depends for a parliamentary majority, is considering quitting, reported this morning. Also today: Israeli President Isaac Herzog pleaded with Netanyahu to , while on Sunday Israel’s Consul General in New York, Asaf Zamir, resigned in protest.
At the moment, mass protests against Netanyahu’s plans are spiraling into a general strike that has already grounded flights in and out of the country’s main airport.
That’s all after , which prompted the White House to jump in quickly with on Sunday, in which National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson urged “Israeli leaders to find a compromise as soon as possible.” : “For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of responsibility, I am calling on you to stop legislation immediately.”
The next question: What will the U.S. withhold, if anything, in order to get its way? And will it treat Israel differently than, say, Hungary would be treated in response to such a policy change?
THE WEEK AHEAD
MONDAY
Vice President Kamala Harris arrived on the African continent this weekend and is traveling this week in Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia (more below).
U.S. and Colombian government officials will meet today and Tuesday in Washington D.C., in the tenth so-called U.S.-Colombia High-Level Dialogue.
TUESDAY
President Biden will selling his economic program, starting with yet .
The Senate Finance Committee will hold a bank failure hearing (to be followed by the House doing the same on Wednesday).
Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland delivers her much-anticipated budget — including the country’s reply to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act.
WEDNESDAY
From 6 a.m. ET Biden and 100 “partner governments” will participate in first day of the . Biden is co-hosting with President Rodrigo Chaves Robles (Costa Rica), President Hakainde Hichilema (Zambia), Prime Minister Mark Rutte (Netherlands), and President Yoon Suk Yeol (South Korea).
The discussion will be sure to prompt backlash from Beijing, given it will feature Jewher Ilham, a Uyghur rights activist from the Worker Rights Consortium,
Biden will also host President Alberto Fernández of Argentina for a bilateral meeting at the White House.
THURSDAY
Each of the Summit for Democracy’s five co-host countries will lead an in-person or hybrid minister-level regional gathering on topics ranging from “Democracy Delivering Justice for All” (led by Rutte) to “Democracy Delivering Strong Institutions” (led by Hichilema).
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will lead a discussion on “Advancing Technology for Democracy.”
WHERE TO JOIN GLOBAL INSIDER: POLITICO’s first ever Global Tech Day is taking place June 15 at County Hall, London, and online.
GLOBAL RISKS AND TRENDS
ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER SENIOR US OFFICIAL IN AFRICA —The U.S. is playing catch-up in Africa this week, again. This time it’s Harris, who is spending six days in Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia. Harris is the fifth U.S. official in three months to make landfall in Africa. President Joe Biden has .
On arrival in Ghana, Harris used before a crowd assembled at Accra’s airport to announce
In practice that excitement means plenty of talks over the coming week on how to increase American investment and how to manage . Today, 22 African countries are either per the International Monetary Fund, including Ghana and Zambia.
DO LOOK UP! You’ll be able to see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus , from anywhere on Earth, with Tuesday offering the clearest view for Americans.
ECONOMY — IMF’S GEORGIEVA SEES FINANCIAL STABILITY RISKS: The outlook for the global economy will remain weak in the medium-term, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva at a conference in China. “Even with a better outlook for 2024, global growth will remain well below its historic average of 3.8 percent,” she said.
“It is also clear that risks to financial stability have increased,” Georgieva said during the second day of the in Beijing. The three-day annual event is a social mixer of politics and business, bringing together members of the Chinese Politburo with dozens of CEOs from Western companies like Siemens, Mercedes-Benz and Allianz.
RUSSIA — PUTIN TO MOVE NUKES TO BELARUS: In a long-flagged move, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday he would .
From Russia with interest: The EU is looking into investing frozen assets belonging to the Russian central bank to reap returns, according to a paper by the Commission set to be discussed on Tuesday by national experts, and .
The paper suggests investing in “liquid, highly-rated assets,” an approach that would require tweaking the EU sanctions regime and which could generate around 2.6 percent annual returns.
INDIA — RAHUL GANDHI SENTENCED TO PRISON, BARRED FROM PARLIAMENT: India’s democracy is looking ever more fragile this week. The leader of India’s opposition Congress Party was sentenced to two years in prison for mocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surname on Thursday, and on Friday was . The actions stem from a 2019 speech in which Gandhi referred to thieves as having the surname Modi.
LATIN AMERICA — U.S. - COLOMBIA LOOK TO BROADEN RELATIONS: A delegation of top Colombian government officials led by Foreign Minister Álvaro Leyva Durán is visiting Washington this week to meet with Secretary of State Blinken, and the country’s ambassador told POLITICO’s Daniel Lippman that the meetings represent a new focus on non-security issues in the relationship between the two countries.
“It has always been the same; it has always been about business, politics, drugs and security,” Luis Gilberto Murillo said. “Now, both governments are making a big signal in how they want to broaden the dialogue by also adding in education, culture and inclusive development.”
Along with Leyva, four ministers and eight deputy ministers representing those issues as well as women’s rights, tech connectivity and energy transition will meet with U.S. government officials on Monday and Tuesday in the tenth so-called U.S.-Colombia High-Level Dialogue. Senior members of the delegation will also meet with deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman and deputy national security adviser Jon Finer, as well as senior members of Congress.
Colombia is . Murillo, the first-ever Black ambassador to the U.S. from Colombia, said that the country’s first leftist government during its 200 years of diplomatic relations with the U.S., has prioritized bringing public services and economic prosperity to regions who have traditionally been left behind.
The administration of President Gustavo Petro wants more technical assistance from the U.S. in dealing with migrants given the huge migratory flows from neighbor Venezuela, and hopes this week’s meetings will pave the way for a meeting between Biden and Petro.
TUNISIA — ON THE BRINK OF DEFAULT: President Kais Saied, who now rules without the checks and balances of a legislature, and whose administration has been , now faces bankruptcy after .
two weeks ago, and today European Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni is in Tunis to push for reforms. All that sets the stage for tense discussions during the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings starting April 10.
BY THE NUMBERS
EU CEOS ARE GREENER AND LESS IN DIGITAL THAN U.S. PEERS: European CEOs are more worried that their companies won’t be viable in 10 years than their U.S. peers (37 percent vs. 20 percent). The European cohort are less likely to deploy artificial intelligence, cloud or other advanced digital technology in the coming year (66 percent vs. 81 percent), but more likely to invest in climate-friendly products and processes than their U.S. counterparts (71 percent vs. 50 percent), according to a
GLOBETROTTERS
CROATIA JOINS EUROPE’S VISA-FREE ZONE: The Balkan nation has officially been since January, but didn’t apply the new rights to its airports until today.
: The European Council president is just 48 and has already led his home country Belgium. But many national leaders across Europe are sick of the way Michel is handling their monthly summits (which he leads), report POLITICO’s Brussels team, and complain , rather than doing the job he’s got.
NIGERIA’S ORGAN-TRAFFICKING SENATOR: Nigerian senator and wife convicted of organ trafficking: Ike Ekweremadu, 60, a former deputy president of Nigeria’s senate, plotted to arrange a transplant for his daughter at a London hospital, and has been under the country’s Modern Slavery Act.
HOTEL RWANDA STAR RELEASED FROM PRISON: Paul Rusesabagina, the Belgian-American who was celebrated as a hero in the movie Hotel Rwanda for saving lives during the Rwandan genocide, has been released from a politically motivated 25-year prison sentence. He is .
BRITAIN’S NEXT FINANCE MINISTER? POLITICO’s alongside Labour leader Keir Starmer in a year’s time: Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
BRAIN FOOD
, by Tish Harrison Warren. A century ago 80 percent of the world’s Christians lived in Western countries, now it’s down to 37 percent.
, by Julia Llewellyn Smith: Monica Macias was just seven when her African despot father dumped her with another feared leader, North Korea’s Kim Il-sung.
Thanks to editor Heidi Vogt and producer Sophie Gardner.
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