2023-07-09 19:37:00
Despite mass demonstrations in Israel, the Netanyahu government is pushing ahead with its plans to weaken the judiciary. A first draft law is to be presented to Parliament on Monday. The protest movement threatens an “unprecedented” resistance.
The demonstrations once morest the Israeli government’s planned judicial reform are intensifying. Around 360,000 people across the country gathered for protests on Saturday ahead of a crucial vote in parliament. According to media reports, there were more than 140,000 demonstrators in Tel Aviv alone.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu initially stopped the reform plans in March following massive pressure, but put them back on the political agenda in a weakened form three weeks ago.
Restriction of the Supreme Court planned
On Monday, part of the judicial reform is to be presented to Parliament at first reading. In the future, the Supreme Court should no longer be able to assess a government decision as “inappropriate”. Critics fear that this might encourage corruption and arbitrary appointments to high-ranking positions.
At the beginning of the year, the Supreme Court classified the appointment of the leader of the Schas party, Arie Deri, as interior minister because of his criminal past as “inappropriate”. As a result, Netanyahu had to fire his confidante Deri.
Because Netanyahu’s religious-nationalist governing coalition has a majority in parliament, the law is expected to be approved by the end of July. Prime Minister Netanyahu, who faces charges of bribery, speaks of a left-leaning and elitist Supreme Court that needs to be reined in.
President Herzog demands dialogue
Meanwhile, Israeli President Itzhak Herzog called on all parties to enter into dialogue once more. Not talking to each other is “a mistake of historic proportions”. In his opinion, an agreement, also in the dispute over the so-called adequacy clause, is feasible. At the end of March, President Herzog mediated talks between the government and the opposition. However, they did not reach an agreement.
Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak wrote in the Haaretz newspaper 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
The passage of judicial reform might also have an impact on Israel’s security. Hundreds of military reservists threaten to stop working if they do. Dozens of them gathered in protest on Sunday night in front of Defense Minister Joav Galant’s house and called on him to oppose the plans.
Caption: Demonstrators block a street in Tel Aviv. Keystone/AP Photo, Ohad Zwigenberg
The organizers of the protests called for a “day of disruption” on Tuesday and threatened “unprecedented resistance”. There is also said to be a rally at the airport near Tel Aviv. The current protest movement is one of the largest in Israel’s history.
Many 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.
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