Several thousand people demonstrated Monday evening in Jerusalem in front of the Supreme Court of Israel against the justice reform project which deeply divides society, on the eve of a hearing of this court considered crucial for the rest of the process.
“Democracy! Democracy!” chanted the demonstrators, brandishing Israeli flags, according to AFP journalists present on site.
“We are here to try to stop this corrupt government’s attempts to transform Israel, a liberal democracy, into a fascist regime,” Michael Telias, 42, a professor of neuroscience, told AFP.
The announcement of the government project at the beginning of January gave rise to one of the largest protest movements that Israel has seen since its creation in 1948.
The camp of opponents of the reform demonstrates every Saturday evening, mainly in Tel Aviv, but also in many cities across the country.
The Supreme Court is due to hold an exceptional hearing on Tuesday bringing together its 15 judges to examine appeals filed against a first clause of the reform bill adopted by Parliament in July.
This measure prevents the Supreme Court from invalidating a government decision by judging its “reasonableness”, which it has done on several occasions.
For the government, several members of which have repeatedly accused the Supreme Court of being politicized, this institution should only make its decisions based on the law.
“We hope that the Supreme Court will reject this proposal which has no other aim than to eliminate any form of power that it should have,” Mr. Elias told AFP.
“I am here because I want to live in a democratic country, I want my children and my grandchildren to be able to live the life that we hoped for them,” said Miriam Galon, a retiree from Givat Ela. in northern Israel.
Many high school students were also present at this demonstration, including Lior, 17, from Tel Aviv, for whom “young people must be in the streets”.
“It’s time to wake up, it’s up to us to defend our country and our rights,” adds the young girl.
While several Israeli media report a conciliation agreement between the government and the opposition on the pursuit of judicial reform, under the auspices of President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed Monday that he was acting to “achieve a national consensus which will restore the balance between the three powers.
“If such an agreement is reached, no one will prevent its implementation,” added Mr. Netanyahu, in a thinly veiled warning to certain discordant paths within his majority.
Earlier, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, of the far-right Jewish Force party, said he was opposed to any “capitulation”.
“I am for dialogue but against capitulation […] this reform is important for the State of Israel,” he declared in a video released by his office.
Opposition leader Yaïr Lapid, for his part, warned Monday evening against “a fictitious compromise proposal” in a video.
According to the government, the reform aims, among other things, to rebalance powers, by reducing the prerogatives of the Supreme Court for the benefit of Parliament.
Opponents of the reform, for their part, fear that the proposed changes, by removing safeguards against the action of the legislative and executive power, will tip Israeli democracy towards an illiberal system.
They accuse Mr. Netanyahu, on trial for several corruption cases, of conflict of interest and of wanting this reform to get out of his legal troubles.
11/09/2023 20:57:36 – Jerusalem (AFP) – © 2023 AFP