(Tel-Aviv) A few tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated on Saturday evening in Tel-Aviv to proclaim their rejection of the policy of the ruling coalition of Binyamin Netanyahu, which they fear is drifting anti-democratically.
It is the largest demonstration since the December 29 swearing-in of the government combining right-wing, far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties, the most right-wing in the country’s history by just over of 9 million inhabitants.
By 9 p.m. (2 p.m. Eastern Time), Habima Square in central Tel Aviv was full and crowds were spilling into the adjacent streets. According to police estimates, quoted by public radio, 20,000 demonstrators gathered there. The organizers spoke of “several tens of thousands”.
Smaller rallies were held simultaneously in Jerusalem, where around 1,000 protesters gathered outside Mr. Netanyahu’s residence according to local media, and in Haifa, the major city in the north of the country.
The demonstrators are gathered at the call of an anti-corruption organization, around slogans calling for “saving democracy” and preventing “the overthrow of the political regime” in force in Israel since its creation in 1948.
“Government of Shame”
Center and left parties and the alliance of Arab parties Hadash-Taal called on Israelis to demonstrate, in particular against the justice reform presented on January 4 by the government of Benyamin Netanyahu, prosecuted in several corruption cases presumed.
They also demand the resignation of the head of government because of these cases. To this are added other dissatisfied people: opponents of Israeli colonization in the West Bank, occupied Palestinian territory, or LGBTQ defense movements worried about the presence in government of openly homophobic ministers.
PHOTO RONEN ZVULUN, REUTERS
On Habima Square, the atmosphere was good-natured. Many Israelis came with their families despite the rain and the demonstrators chanted their slogans under a sea of umbrellas, noted an AFP journalist.
The signs held up by the demonstrators reflected the diversity of demands: “The time has come to bring down the dictator”, “Government of shame”, “There is no democracy with the occupation”, “Bibi doesn’t want democracy, we don’t need fascists in the Knesset”, “You shall love the other as yourself” written in Hebrew and Arabic.
But it was the slogan “Democracy, democracy” that came up most often.
In the absence of an official written constitution, the judiciary in Israel is the only one capable of controlling the government and safeguarding individual rights.
Critics of the judicial reform believe it would grant unlimited control to the prime minister, endangering Israeli democracy as it has existed since 1948. They say they fear a drift towards illiberal democracy.
“Preserving Democracy”
From July 2020 to June 2021, the Black Flag Movement had supported a long-running protest campaign against Mr. Netanyahu to demand his resignation because of the corruption scandals in which he is involved.
Leader of the Likud, the great party of the Israeli right, and holder of the record for longevity at the head of the Israeli government, Mr. Netanyahu was ousted from power in 2021 by a motley electoral coalition which lasted less than a year.
At the end of December, he took the helm of a new government following the legislative elections in November, the fifth in four years, the results of which bear witness to the fragmentation of the electorate and the internal divisions of society.
Among the speakers to address the demonstrators in Habima Square is former Defense Minister Benny Gantz (center right) who on Friday called on Twitter “all the Israeli people on the left and on the right to come and demonstrate for the preservation of Israeli democracy”.
“It is a civic duty of the first order. »