Thousands of opponents of the judicial reform project demonstrated Tuesday in Israel, blocking roads, after the vote in the first reading in Parliament of a controversial measure of this text accused of undermining democracy.
Police used water cannons to disperse protesters in Tel Aviv and said they arrested 71 people across the country.
Thousands of protesters, according to media reports, gathered at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion airport, waving white and blue Israeli flags, honking their horns and shouting anti-reform slogans.
This protest movement has brought together tens of thousands of people in Israel every week since January against this bill brought by the government of Binyamin Netanyahu, one of the most right-wing in the country’s history.
“This is our last chance to fight the destruction of Israeli democracy,” said Yair Bortinger, a 47-year-old protester who works in high technology, in front of one of the airport terminals.
The government “deprives us of our rights and that’s what we are fighting,” testified Sivan Levin, 48, also employed in high technology. “We want to show the whole world that our democracy is in danger,” continued this protester.
Other groups blocked roads between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, while organizers announced dozens of rallies.
“I came here because the government is totally destroying democracy in Israel,” said Eitan Galon, a doctor among protesters on a highway outside Jerusalem.
“We will continue to fight until the end,” he assured.
“Strengthening Democracy”
This day follows the vote in first reading by the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, of a measure aimed at canceling the possibility for the judiciary to pronounce on “the reasonableness” of government decisions.
This provision was adopted overnight by 64 votes in favor, corresponding to the deputies of the government coalition. The 56 opposition MPs voted against.
Announced shortly after the inauguration of the government formed at the start of the year by Binyamin Netanyahu with the support of far-right parties and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, the judicial reform aims in particular to reduce the prerogatives of the Supreme Court, which the executive judge politicized.
Its detractors believe that the reform risks opening the way to an anti-liberal or authoritarian drift.
In a video uploaded to Facebook overnight, Netanyahu said the bill was “not the end of democracy”, but would “strengthen democracy”.
“The rights of Israeli courts and citizens will not be harmed in any way […] The Court will continue to monitor the legality of government decisions and appointments,” he said.
The parliamentary commission of laws resumed Tuesday afternoon the debates around the measure voted in first reading, in order to present it to the final vote of the Parliament on an unspecified date.
On Tuesday, the head of the Histadrut trade union center called on the prime minister to “stop the chaos”, hinting that the powerful union could put pressure on the government if it goes ahead with the reform plan.
“Mr. Prime Minister, the ball is in your court,” Arnon Bar-David told a press conference in Tel Aviv.
“Delusional Chaos”
“End the delusional chaos in Israeli society, and as soon as possible,” he added.
For his part, the leader of the opposition, the centrist Yaïr Lapid, reproached the government for not keeping its promises: “You promised to help the weak and to protect the security of Israel […]you do nothing but this madness,” he said.
At the end of March, Mr. Netanyahu decreed a pause in the legislative process to allow discussions with the opposition parties. But at the end of June, the two main opposition leaders, Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz, suspended their participation in the talks.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog called on the parties to return to the negotiating table that has been taking place under his aegis since March.