Thousands of supporters of the controversial judicial restructuring have gathered in Israel. According to Channel 12, around 30,000 demonstrators marched through downtown Tel Aviv today, blocking a freeway in both directions. According to the Haaretz newspaper, some of them broke through police barriers and clashed with security forces. Some set off firecrackers.
Several right-wing organizations had called for the protest. According to media reports, calls for violence once morest journalists circulated in advance. These would have to be “finished”, quoted Haaretz from messages that participants are said to have exchanged in group chats in advance. In the evening, loud chants, clapping and blowing horns sometimes prevented journalists from delivering their reports to the camera.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition wants to use the restructuring to limit the influence of the highest court and expand the government’s position of power. She accuses the highest court of excessive interference in political decisions. In the future, Parliament should be able to overrule decisions of the highest court with a simple majority. Critics see the separation of powers in danger and warn of a state crisis if the reform is implemented in this way.
