Another day of massive protests in Israel against the judicial reform Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to implement. reform that this Saturday added a critic in the Executive Cabinet, the Secretary of Defense, Yoav Gallant. This has required Netanyahu to cripple the norm on a day when more than half a million people took to the streets of Israel to protest. “The deepening division seeps into military and defense institutions; this is a clear, imminent and real threat to Israel’s security,” Gallant said in a brief televised statement.
According to the organizers, more than 630,000 people They have demonstrated in the country’s main cities to protest against the government’s controversial judicial reform. Of the total, up to 300,000 correspond to the most massive mobilization, that of Tel Avivaccording to the Israeli newspaper The Times of Israel.
This is the twelfth consecutive week of protests against the judiciary reform, which gives the government absolute control over the appointment of judges supreme court and prevents courts from vetoing rules passed by Parliament. The standard is expected to be finally adopted next week. Netanyahu, who is under investigation for corruption, is pushing ahead with a law that would give him more power over judge selection.
The main novelty this Saturday is Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s announcement calling on Netanyahu to paralyze the judicial reform process, a position supported by the Minister of Agriculture. Avi poet, opening the first cracks in the government. The Israeli judiciary warned the prime minister that he could not intervene in the process of passing the law change as it was “illegal”.
“More and more Israelis are waking up (…) We will not live in a dictatorship,” said Josh Drill, 26, spokesman for one of the protest movements known as Umbrella. Dozens of protesters have jumped onto the Ayalon highway to block the road. Police used tear gas to break up the protest and arrested 12 people. In addition to Tel Aviv, there were also demonstrations in other cities such as Jerusalem, Haifa and Beersheba. On Route 65 in northern Israel, four more people were arrested for throwing flares while hundreds of people blocked the Karkur crossing.
The reform has drawn criticism from inside and outside the country. Israel’s most important ally USAHe has expressed his “concern” about the reform. Netanyahu, who has so far kept a low profile on the issue, announced on Thursday that he will press ahead with the reform but will do everything to “reach a solution” that both supporters and critics of the bill accept.