After nine weeks, the mobilization does not weaken. Several thousand Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday evening March 4 to protest against the very controversial reform of the judicial system wanted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and which they consider undemocratic.
The right-wing and far-right coalition set up in December by Binyamin Netanyahu is trying to pass legislation that would notably give the government greater influence over the selection of judges and limit the prerogatives of the Supreme Court, provoking, since the announcement of the text in early January, massive demonstrations.
“Democracy, democracy!” or “Shame!” chanted protesters in central Tel Aviv, amid a swarm of Israeli flags. Demonstrations are also taking place in other Israeli cities.
On Wednesday, clashes in Tel Aviv pitted protesters against police, who used water cannons and stun grenades to disperse crowds. Eleven injured demonstrators were treated at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, the spokesperson for this establishment told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The democratic character under threat
According to its detractors, the text, by aiming to reduce the influence of the judiciary in favor of political power, threatens the democratic character of the State of Israel. But Benyamin Netanyahu and his justice minister, Yariv Levin, believe it is necessary to restore a balanced balance of power between elected officials and the Supreme Court, which the prime minister and his allies consider politicized.
“I love my country, I am a Zionist and I want Israel to remain a Jewish and democratic country,” Revital Lévi, 52, who lives in Tel Aviv, told AFP. “You need a strong, autonomous judiciary and separation of powers,” to “guarantee democracy,” she said. “I don’t miss any events,” says Nimrod Mimran, 24, a QA engineer. “I feel the duty to fight”, he adds saying “fear for his rights”.
Two key provisions of the reform – the first which modifies the process for appointing judges and the second which aims to prevent the Supreme Court from invalidating any new fundamental law voted by Parliament – ??have already been adopted by the deputies in first lecture.
Another highly contested provision of the reform, the introduction of an “override” clause allowing parliament to overrule certain Supreme Court decisions by a simple majority, is due for a first-reading vote at a later date.
The demonstrations, which generally denounce government policy, do not seem to be influencing the determination of Binyamin Netanyahu and his majority for the time being.
The opposition, including its centrist leader Yair Lapid, has repeatedly accused the prime minister of wanting to serve his personal interests with this reform. Benyamin Netanyahu being himself tried for corruption in several cases, his critics believe that in the event of adoption of the reform, he could use it to quash a possible judgment coming to condemn him.
