After 27 consecutive weeks of massive demonstrations against the changes proposed by the Government in the relationship with the judiciary, the protest in Israel takes on a more militant and tense character. The water cannons used this Tuesday by the Police managed to disperse the Israeli protesters who took several hours the emblematic Kaplan street in Tel Aviv but not the discontent in broad sectors fully convinced that the reform plan, now partially resumed, will end with judicial independence and democracy.
The blockade of the main road arteries and the large demonstration at Ben Gurion Airport in an intense day of protests that started at six in the morning and ended late at night with significant concentrations in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa sought to raise the pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze the legislative initiative that, since its announcement in January by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, has deepened the division after five elections in four years, has reopened latent wounds, has weakened the economy, has caused the denunciation of many reservists and has damaged the relationship with the Biden Administration.
With 64 deputies in favor and 56 against in the Knesset, last night the government coalition achieved approval at first reading of the text of the law that annuls (or reduces if moderated in the third vote before the summer recess) the “criterion of reasonableness” as a resource for judges to overthrow decisions, appointments and dismissals by elected leaders.
In response, tens of thousands of Israelis armed with the flags of their country took to the streets to carry out marches, traffic blockades that led to clashes with police, several injured and dozens of detainees and a huge demonstration, for the second time in eight days. , in the main terminal of the international airport. With 80,000 people pouring out this Tuesday through Israel’s main gate to the world in the middle of the holidays, this protest action is not popular even among many of those who oppose the reform. Nadav Galon, one of the organizers, knows this but explains that “the protest at the airport puts pressure on the Government and is an act of patriotism to protect democracy against the threat of radicals.” The Government accuses the protesters who blocked roads of ” break the law and cause chaos”, he replies that “democracy will be strengthened with the reforms” and emphasizes that most of his proposals were frozen.
Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv once again demonstrated this Tuesday as the liberal and militant opposition stronghold, which goes beyond the judicial arena, to the Government made up of a conservative party, two ultranationalist movements and two religious formations. “We are here to return the country to the liberal and straight path. These large and peaceful demonstrations are the response to the undemocratic decisions and statements that we hear from the government,” Oren tells us in Kaplan where many protesters belong to High Tech. The sector The most important company in Israel has suffered a 68% reduction in investments in the first semester of the government (January-June) compared to the same period in 2022, mainly due to internal uncertainty.
“A traffic closure causes discomfort for drivers, but it is not as serious as proposals that damage democratic values,” says Daniella Benaim. This Israeli, who works in the technological ecosystem and participates in all the demonstrations in Kaplan, adds to EL MUNDO: “We must prevent them from annulling the reasonableness criterion because also if they do not continue with other laws. Seeing that they could not carry out all of coup, the government goes one by one”. When I remind her that she won the elections in November, she replies that “in the election campaign no one wrote that this is what I would do. Likud voters in demonstrations tell me that they did not know what this revolt against democracy would do.”
A brief reminder of the events that have returned the maximum tension after three months of “truce”. The coalition reactivated its reform plan after the breakdown of negotiations with the opposition (June 14) that began after Netanyahu suspended it (March 27) in the face of massive internal (on the street and among Army reservists) and external protests. (US President Joe Biden, who does not invite him to the White House, asks for a consensus) multiplied by his announcement -later rectified- to dismiss Defense Minister Yoav Gallant who, given the damage to national security, had asked to put the brake.
In an attempt to reduce internal chaos and criticism from Washington while not provoking a crisis with Levin, the most radical wing in his coalition and the most militant right-wing grassroots demanding reform, Netanyahu decided to freeze the package of laws (such as the one that was going to give them a majority in the Supreme Court judge selection commission) and promote only one clause believing that it would not cause too many protests. Bibi was wrong since for many the absence of the “reasonableness criterion” encourages corruption in regards to appointments and erodes the ability of the Supreme Court to supervise government actions. “They can appoint a donkey as legal counsel and no one could help it,” says businessman and protester Noam Lanir in Tel Aviv. In the background, the campaign of many ministers against the legal adviser to the Government, Gali Baharav-Miara, who was appointed by the previous coalition. For the protest, which hardened her actions, it is not only a “red line” but the first of the rest. For this reason, many reservists are already considering not going to the service. Where Netanyahu does not foresee fissures is in his coalition because they consider that this law is not so dramatic, unlike what happened months ago when the battery of laws proposed by Levin provoked complaints from several Likud deputies who demanded consensus.
The Government maintains that it is a law that protects the right of the leader elected by the citizens to make their decisions. “The judges do not have better criteria to rule on what is reasonable and what is not. In any case, the judicial system would continue to have numerous instruments to stop decisions or appointments,” said the Likud deputy, Moshe Saada after a vote that, being only in The first reading does not completely bury the possibility of resuming negotiations to reach a consensus on an initiative that has shaken Israel like never before with demonstrations that have not stopped since January.
Everything depends on Netanyahu, on trial on corruption charges, who must choose between a greater internal crisis with its respective damage to security and the economy, or a crisis in his coalition a few months after returning to power.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
