The reversal of Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, will not have changed anything. On Saturday July 1, Israelis again took to the streets to protest against the judicial reform wanted by the government, as they have every week for several months. However, the head of government announced, Thursday, June 29, to abandon a key provision of the controversial project.
Although no participation figures were immediately released, the weekly demonstrations regularly bring together tens of thousands of people. In Tel Aviv, the many demonstrators held up banners that read “Save Democracy.”
Formed at the end of December with the support of far-right parties and ultra-Orthodox Jewish formations, the government of Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to pass a justice reform aimed at increasing the power of elected officials over that of magistrates. The announcement of the text in January gave rise to one of the biggest protest movements in the history of Israel.
The government believes the reform is necessary to ensure a better balance of power, but its critics see it as a threat to Israeli democracy and its institutional safeguards.
Another provision, also adopted in first reading and which modifies the process of appointment of judges, is the subject of fierce disputes.
Benyamin Netanyahu, who announced a pause in the project at the end of March to allow discussions with the opposition, promised on June 18 to advance work on the reform project which deeply divides the country.
A few days earlier, the two main opposition leaders, Yaïr Lapid and Benny Gantz, had announced that they were suspending their participation in the negotiations on the reform.
