Tens of thousands of Israelis have marched into Jerusalem and more protesters took to the streets of Tel Aviv in a last show of force to block Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial judicial reform plan.
Protests have mounted in the days ahead of the debate, which began on Sunday ahead of Monday’s parliamentary vote, which could see a key chunk of the proposals come into force.
The bill would limit the Supreme Court’s powers to overturn what it considers “unreasonable” government or ministerial decisions. Critics see the law as a threat to Israeli democracy.
On Saturday, protesters in Jerusalem transformed the city’s main entrance into a sea of blue and white Israeli flags as they completed the final leg of a four-day, 70 km (43-mile) hike from Tel Aviv to Israel’s Parliament.
A protester against the Israeli government’s judicial reform plans checks her phone inside a tent at a camp set up in Jerusalem July 23, 2023 [Ronen Zvulun/Reuters]The group, which grew from hundreds to thousands during the march, was greeted by crowds of cheering protesters before set up camp in rows of small white tents in front of the Knesset ahead of the expected vote.
“Democracy is not as secure as it used to be,” said Ido Golan, a protester from central Israel who joined with his partner and two young children, one on his back in a baby carrier.
“It is very important for us and also for them to know that we have done everything to save democracy.”
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands flooded the streets of the coastal city of Tel Aviv, the country’s business and cultural capital, as well as in Beersheba, Haifa and Netanya on Saturday.
“Protect our democracy”
Hundreds of protesters prayed early Sunday at the Wailing Wall in Israel-annexed east Jerusalem, the holiest place for Jews to pray.
Many carried Israeli flags and formed a human chain at various locations in Jerusalem, including in front of the Jaffa Gate in the Old City.
“We have to keep up the pressure, we have to protect our democracy,” protester Amir Goldstein told AFP, who spent the night in a tent near parliament.
Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from West Jerusalem outside Israel’s Knesset, said there was a “huge” crowd protesting outside. “There are so many protesters chanting pro-democracy slogans. They say the situation is extremely dire,” he added.
“We spoke to protesters … who said they were protesting because that was when the guillotine would fall. They fear that passage of this controversial law will transform the country from a democracy to an autocracy.”
“Death Blows”
Netanyahu and his far-right allies claim the overhaul is necessary to curb what they see as excessive powers of unelected judges. However, its critics say the plan will destroy the country’s system of separation of powers and set it on the path to authoritarian rule.
Joe Biden, the President of the United States, has also urged Netanyahu to stop the plan and seek a broad consensus.
The proposed overhaul drew harsh criticism from business and medical leaders, and a rapidly growing number of military reservists in key units have said they will no longer report for duty if the plan is adopted.
Crowds attend a protest in Tel Aviv July 22, 2023, ahead of a vote in parliament on the Israeli government’s judicial reform bill [Jack Guez/ AFP]According to Brothers in Arms, a protest group representing retired soldiers, another 10,000 reservists announced Saturday night that they were suspending their service.
More than 100 senior former security chiefs, including retired military commanders, police commissioners and chiefs of intelligence agencies, joined those calls on Saturday, signing a letter to Netanyahu blaming him for compromising Israel’s military and urging him to stop the legislation.
Signers included Ehud Barak, a former Israeli prime minister, and Moshe Yaalon, a former army chief and defense minister. Both are political rivals to Netanyahu.
“The legislation destroys the things that divide Israeli society, tearing people apart and dissolving them [Israeli army] and inflict mortal blows on the security of Israel,” the former officials wrote.
“The legislative process violates the social contract that has existed for 75 years between the Israeli government and thousands of reserve officers and soldiers from land, air, sea and intelligence who for many years volunteered for the reserves in defense of the democratic State of Israel and are now heartbroken to announce that they are ceasing their voluntary service,” the letter reads.
Israel Katz, a senior cabinet minister of Netanyahu’s Likud party, said the bill would be passed one way or another on Monday.
“I represent citizens who are unwilling to withdraw their vote because of threats of refusal to serve” or those blocking the airport, motorways and train stations, he told Channel 12 TV. “This is clearly an attempt to use military service to force the government to change policy.”
Demonstrators against the Israeli government’s judicial reform plans take part in an installation entitled “In Vain,” in which family members of fallen Israeli soldiers write notes saying their relatives fell in vain in Jerusalem on July 23, 2023 [Amir Cohen/Reuters]The final vote scheduled for Monday would be the passage of the first major bill.
As well as getting rid of the “adequacy clause”, the revision also calls for other wide-ranging changes designed to limit the powers of the judiciary, from limiting the Supreme Court’s ability to challenge parliamentary decisions to changing the way judges are selected.
Protesters, who make up a large part of Israeli society, see the reform as a power grab fueled by various personal and political grievances from Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, and his partners, who want to deepen Israel’s control over the occupied West Bank and uphold controversial exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men.
Despite seven months of protests, Netanyahu doubled down on reform early Sunday when he released a video announcing he would need to be hospitalized for pacemaker surgery.
The 73-year-old leader said he expected to be discharged from hospital on Sunday afternoon and headed to the Knesset to vote on the bill.
He hinted that last-minute changes were possible and said he was “still trying to reach an agreement with the opposition” on the “adequacy clause”.