Ahead of a critical vote in parliament, demonstrations against the government’s planned judicial reform have picked up speed in Israel. Around 360,000 people gathered nationwide on Saturday, according to organizers. According to media reports, there were more than 140,000 demonstrators in the coastal city of Tel Aviv alone. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu initially stopped the plans in March after massive pressure, but put them back on the agenda in a somewhat weaker form three weeks ago.
Restriction of the Supreme Court planned
On Monday, a part on the weakening of the judiciary is to be presented to Parliament in the first reading. According to the plans, the Supreme Court will no longer be able to judge a government decision as “inappropriate”. Critics fear that this could encourage corruption and thus also the arbitrary filling of high-ranking positions. The government accuses the judges of interfering too much in political decisions.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled that the appointment of Shas Party leader Arie Deri as interior minister was “inappropriate” because of his criminal past. As a result, Netanyahu had to fire his confidante. Observers expect that the government wants to reverse this.
Three readings are required to pass the law. With Netanyahu’s government enjoying a majority in parliament, the law is expected to be approved by the end of the month.
Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak wrote in a Haaretz op-ed that Israel was facing the worst crisis in its history and warned that the country was on the verge of becoming a “de facto dictatorship”.
Massive resistance announced
Passing the law could also have implications for Israel’s security. Hundreds of military reservists threatened that they would no longer want to take up their duties. Dozens of people gathered in protest on Sunday night in front of Defense Minister Joav Galant’s house and called on him to oppose the plans.
The organizers of the protests meanwhile called for a “day of disruption” on Tuesday and threatened “unprecedented resistance”. There will also be a rally in the afternoon at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv. The protest movement is one of the largest in the history of Israel, a country of around 9.4 million people, and it spans broad sections of society.
Several companies in the high-tech industry, which is considered the driving force behind the economy in Israel, announced that they would release their employees for the demonstrations. The shopping center chain “Big” threatened that if the law were passed, all of its centers would go on strike. It was initially unclear whether the umbrella organization of trade unions in Israel, Histarut, would also take part.
Memories of the general strike are awake
Histarut, with around 800,000 members, called for a general strike at the end of March because Netanyahu had fired Galant in the meantime. Galant had previously publicly criticized Netanyahu’s plans. Several shopping centers and universities remained closed at that time. Hospitals worked in shifts. Air traffic was severely disrupted at Ben-Gurion Airport. Netanyahu then suspended his government’s plans, and Galant’s dismissal was reversed a few weeks later.
