the strong protest against the judicial reform continues, reservists threaten to suspend their service

They mobilize every week. In Israel, tens of thousands of demonstrators continue to oppose judicial reform in the streets. This is again the case on Saturday July 22, as the final vote on this bill approaches. The debates will begin Sunday noon in the Knesset (the Parliament) and the vote, during the second and third readings, should be held on Monday. If approved, it will be the first major component of the proposed judicial reform to become law.

According to the government, the reform aims, among other things, to rebalance powers, by reducing the prerogatives of the Supreme Court, which the executive considers politicized, in favor of Parliament. Its detractors believe that it risks opening the way to an anti-liberal or authoritarian drift. Thus, the announcement of this project, in January, triggered one of the biggest protest movements in the country’s history.

More than 1,100 Air Force reservists mobilize

At least 1,142 Air Force reservists declared on Friday their intention to suspend their voluntary service if the law were passed. “We all have the responsibility to end the division (…) and the deep cleavages within the population”, they said in a statement whose signatories include 235 fighter pilots, 173 drone operators and 85 commando soldiers. Most Israelis who complete their compulsory military service (lasting 32 months for men and 24 for women) are then expected to voluntarily participate in reserve service each year for a specified period.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Thursday that his door remains “opened” for negotiations with the opposition, after a parliamentary committee adopted a key measure of this project. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced that he was “taking steps to reach a broad consensus”, in a context of escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and in which the country’s military capabilities are important.