(Tel-Aviv) For the eighth week in a row, thousands of Israelis took to the streets of Tel-Aviv on Saturday evening to protest against the very controversial reform of the judicial system wanted by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and which they consider infringing to democracy.
This new event comes after the adoption by Parliament at first reading on Tuesday of two key provisions of the reform.
The first changes the process for appointing judges and the second aims to prevent the Supreme Court from invalidating any new fundamental law passed by Parliament. The introduction of an “override” clause allowing Parliament to overrule certain decisions of the Supreme Court by a simple majority is another contested provision of the draft.
PHOTO AMMAR AWAD, REUTERS
“Democracy, democracy! or “We won’t give up,” chanted protesters in central Tel Aviv, amid a swarm of Israeli flags.
“We are fighting for our country, for democracy, for equal rights,” Ronit Peled, from Hod Hasharon, north of the Israeli metropolis, told AFP.
“Someone has to stop the government, they will control our lives. We are afraid of the idea of becoming a fascist country,” said the 68-year-old retiree, who affixed a sticker on her sweater that reads “Attached to the Constitution”.
The reform project was announced in early January by the government, formed in December by Binyamin Netanyahu with far-right parties and ultra-Orthodox Jewish formations.
PHOTO ARIEL SCHALIT, ASSOCIATED PRESS
According to its detractors, the text, by aiming to reduce the influence of the judiciary in favor of political power, threatens the democratic character of the State of Israel.
But Benyamin Netanyahu and his Minister of Justice Yariv Levin consider it necessary to restore a balance of power between elected officials and the Supreme Court, which the Prime Minister and his allies consider politicized.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, on Tuesday called on Israel to suspend its reform, worried about its consequences in terms of human rights and the independence of justice.
The demonstrations, which generally denounce the government’s policy, do not seem to influence the determination of Mr. Netanyahu and his majority for the time being.
The opposition, including its centrist leader Yair Lapid, has repeatedly accused Mr. Netanyahu of wanting to serve his personal interests with this reform.
Mr. Netanyahu being himself tried for corruption in several cases, his critics believe that in the event of adoption of the reform, he could use it to break a possible judgment coming to condemn him.