The protest has not abated for ten weeks. Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Israel on Saturday, March 11, to protest the reform of the judicial system the government is trying to push through.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing and far-right coalition is preparing to speed up the legislative process from Sunday, the first day of the week in Israel, to push through this reform, which its critics see as undemocratic.
As on previous Saturdays, the main rally is taking place in central Tel Aviv, where protesters, more than 100,000 according to media reports, waved a barrage of blue and white Israeli flags.
Aerial view of the March 11, 2023 protest in Tel Aviv, Israel. ILAN ROSENBERG / Portal Also read: Article reserved for our subscribers In Israel, the challenge of judicial reform is combined with criticism of the violence perpetrated by settlers in Huwara
attendance records
Other demonstrations are taking place in the country’s main cities. According to Israeli media estimates, Saturday’s rallies broke attendance records in the cities of Haifa (north) and Beer Sheva (south) with 50,000 and 10,000 people respectively, significant numbers for Israel’s population of just over nine million. The Israeli police did not provide information on the number of demonstrators.
The head of the Knesset (parliament) Judiciary Committee, Simcha Rothman, has scheduled hearings on the Judiciary Reform Bill every day from Sunday to Wednesday. He appears to be dismissing calls to slow down or suspend Knesset consideration of the texts to allow compromise negotiations, and to stick strictly to the timetable he announced with Justice Minister Yariv Levin.
Also read: Article reserved for our subscribers In Israel, a controversial think tank is behind the reform of the judiciary
This schedule calls for the main elements of the reform to be passed before the end of the Knesset’s winter session on April 2. This reform would severely limit the Supreme Court’s ability to invalidate laws and even give the political majority coalition the power to appoint judges. On Thursday evening, Israeli President Isaac Herzog called for the legislative process on the Judiciary Reform Act to be halted, calling it a “threat to the foundations of democracy”.