To cries of “democracy, democracy”, waving blue and white Israeli flags, thousands of Israelis demonstrated Thursday evening, July 26, in Tel Aviv, against the vote by Parliament on a provision of the controversial reform of the judicial system carried by the right-wing government.
On Monday, Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and his allies in the coalition of far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties pushed through parliament a clause in the bill limiting the ability of the Supreme Court to overturn a government decision. .
This reform, which aims to increase the power of elected officials over that of magistrates, divides the country and has triggered one of the largest protest movements in the history of Israel, of which Tel Aviv is the epicenter.
Fear of an authoritarian drift
The government believes that it is necessary to ensure a better balance of powers, but its critics see it as a threat to democracy and fear that it opens the way to an authoritarian drift. The text voted on Monday is the first of the reform to become law.
“It is described as the end of Israeli democracy. I think it’s ridiculous and everyone will realize that when the dust settles,” Netanyahu told US broadcaster ABC on Thursday.
He explains that he has initiated this reform, which aims to increase the power of elected officials over that of magistrates, to put “the pendulum back in the center”. “We have to fix it and that’s what we just did. This is a minor correction,” he said, repeating the statement later in another interview with CNN.
Demonstrations had followed Parliament’s vote late into the night on Monday and police used water cannons to disperse the crowds. The organizers of the movement had announced new rallies during the week.
Critics of the Prime Minister, on trial for corruption, accuse him of wanting to use this reform to mitigate a possible judgment against him, which he denies.