Some 50 leading professors from mainly Ivy League universities in the United States published a letter on Sunday, slamming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's intent to overhaul Israel's judicial system.
The professors claim the announced legislative changes, brought forth by Justice Minister Yair Levin earlier in the month would weaken the independence of Israel's judiciary.
"We, law professors in the United States who care deeply about Israel, strongly oppose the effort by the current Israeli government to radically overhaul the country’s legal system," the professors said in their public letter.
"This effort includes proposed reforms that would grant the ruling coalition absolute power to appoint Justices and judges, make it almost impossible for the Supreme Court to invalidate legislation, severely limit judicial review of executive-branch decisions, and curtail the independence of the Attorney General and legal advisers assigned to different government agencies," they wrote.
The law professors said some among them agree with the need to "scale back the Supreme Court's power," while others believe that the legal status quo must be maintained. It has contributed to the country's flourishing over the last 75 years.
"Weakening it, would pose a dire risk to freedom of expression, to human and civil rights, and to efforts to reduce corruption, making it harder for Israel to survive challenges going forward."
They concluded their letter with the hope that for Israel's sake, the government will decide to take a wiser path.
Alan Dershowitz from Harvard University, who has in the past been a vocal supporter and a close associate of the prime minister was among the signatories, along with representatives from other prestigious schools.
Alan Dershowitz's statement on proposed judicial reforms
He recently posted a video condemning the proposed legislation. "The independence of the Supreme Court is essential not only to the preservation of Israeli democracy but to Israel's intent to present itself in an honest, truthful, and positive way to the world," he said in his video.
Dershowitz emphasized that pursuing these reforms would be a "terrible, terrible mistake."