Despite a temporary halt to the controversial judicial reform, hundreds of thousands of people in Israel have again protested against the plans of Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing religious government. The main rally took place in Tel Aviv for the 16th consecutive Saturday. Demonstrators waved Israeli flags and held up protest signs.
“By pushing ahead with the judicial coup, the government is deepening the rift in Israeli society, harming Israel’s economy and security,” the organizers said. According to this, around 380,000 people were on the streets nationwide, around 165,000 of them in Tel Aviv. Israeli media estimated the number of participants in the coastal city at around 120,000. There were other rallies in the cities of Haifa and Jerusalem.
Juval Diskin, former head of the domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet, strongly condemned the Netanyahu government at the rally in Tel Aviv. “While this government was legitimately elected, its shocking composition and foolish actions have morally transformed it into an illegitimate government,” Diskin said over speakers. “We are fighting for the future of our country, for the face of the country in which our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will live,” said the 67-year-old. “We will make it – because we have no other country.”
Warnings of harm to democracy
Netanyahu’s government wants to specifically weaken the judicial system, experts warn of serious damage to democracy. The project was suspended for a few weeks in the face of massive protests at the end of March. So far there has been no breakthrough in mediation talks. The summer session of Parliament in Jerusalem begins on April 30th. Critics fear that the government could then push through the comprehensive project in a fast-track procedure.
Israeli Justice Minister Jariv Levin, one of the main initiators of the reform project, called for a “million demonstration” in front of the parliament in Jerusalem on Thursday. “We will all go to Jerusalem to stand between the Knesset and the Supreme Court and say with unprecedented determination: the people are demanding judicial reform.” The caption of the appeal on Facebook read: “You will not steal our election!” Netanyahu’s right-wing religious coalition has a majority of 64 of the 120 seats in parliament.
The celebrations of Israel’s 75th anniversary are expected to be overshadowed by protests next week. The opponents of the judicial reform announced the start of the “largest demonstration on Independence Day in Israeli history” on Tuesday evening.
Survivors have already demanded that politicians stay away from ceremonies on Soldiers’ Remembrance Day, which begins on Monday evening. In a radio interview on Sunday, President Izchak Herzog called on the public not to protest in the cemeteries. At the same time, he appealed to politicians to refrain from making controversial statements.
