2023-09-23 20:49:52
More than 100,000 people demonstrated again on Saturday evening in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv against the policies of the right-wing religious government. People also took to the streets again in other cities. The protests have been going on for 38 weeks. A huge red-background banner carried by demonstrators in Tel Aviv read: “Dictator on the run” next to a picture of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The head of government is currently in the USA. There, too, his visit was accompanied by protests against his government’s controversial judicial reform. At the end of July, the parliament in Jerusalem passed a first amendment to the judicial reform pushed forward by the government, despite massive resistance. This deprives the Supreme Court of the opportunity to take action against “inappropriate” decisions by the government, the Prime Minister or individual ministers.
Critics see the government’s actions as a threat to Israel’s democracy. Netanyahu’s government, however, argues that the court is too powerful in Israel and that it simply wants to restore balance. Negotiations on a compromise so far have been unsuccessful.
The Supreme Court is dealing with eight petitions against the controversial change in the law. In an interview with the US broadcaster CNN on Friday evening (local time), Netanyahu once again did not want to clearly answer the question of whether he would respect a court decision against the change in the law. If his government does not do this, there are fears of a national crisis. Netanyahu told CNN: “I believe we should abide by the rulings of the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court should abide by the basic laws that parliament passes.”
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