For the ninth consecutive week, several thousand Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday evening to protest against the very controversial reform of the judicial system wanted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and which they consider anti-democratic.
The right-wing and far-right coalition set up in December by Benjamin 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.
There were clashes in Tel Aviv on Wednesday between protesters and police who used water cannons and stun grenades to disperse crowds. Eleven injured demonstrators were treated at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, the hospital’s spokesman told AFP.
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 Benjamin Netanyahu and his Minister of Justice Yariv Levin consider it necessary to restore a 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. “We need a strong, autonomous judicial system and a separation of powers”, to “guarantee democracy”, she said.
“I don’t miss any events,” says Nimrod Mimran, 24, QA engineer. “I feel the duty to fight”, he adds saying “to fear for his rights”.
Two key provisions of the reform – the first which modifies the process of appointment of 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 decisions of the Supreme Court by a simple majority, is due to be voted on in first reading at a later date.
The demonstrations, which generally denounce the policy of the government, do not seem for the moment to influence the determination of Mr. Netanyahu and his majority.
The opposition, including its centrist leader Yair Lapid, has repeatedly accused Mr. Netanyahu of wanting to serve his personal interests with this reform.
Mr. Netanyahu himself being tried for corruption in several cases, his critics believe that if the reform is adopted, he could use it to quash a possible judgment coming to condemn him.
04/03/2023 21:02:04 Tel Aviv (AFP) © 2023 AFP
