This content was published on March 16, 2023 – 8:27 p.m. March 16, 2023 – 8:27 p.m
(Updates with statement by opposition leader in paragraph 9)
Jerusalem, 16 March (EFE).- Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Israel again today to protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who insists on approving his controversial judicial reform without considering the alternative proposal of the state, Isaac Herzog to stop the polarization of the country.
From early morning, the protesters, carrying Israeli flags, dodged the metal fences erected by the authorities and took the main streets of several towns in the country, at times confronting the mounted police and about twenty people were arrested.
Some protesters reported that other civilians tried to run them over and pepper spray was fired at them.
“Violence against protesters is increasing. Israeli Government: The Responsibility Is Yours! Stop incitement against protesters,” the opposition leader, former Prime Minister Yair Lapid, condemned on Twitter.
The so-called “Day of Resistance Against Dictatorship” is part of the largest protest movement in Israel’s history, with demonstrations for 11 consecutive weeks bringing together half a million people on the 11th, a record number.
The essence of his complaint remains the same: judicial reform being pushed by Netanyahu and his government, the most far-right in Israel’s history, whose goal would be to stage a “coup against democracy” and break the independence of justice.
The initiative suppresses the Supreme Court’s power to review and repeal unconstitutional laws and gives the executive branch full control over the appointment of judges, something strong across broad sectors of society, from intellectuals, doctors and businesspeople to the military and scientists Has caused rejection and bankers.
Amid the country’s increasing polarization and fears of a “civil war,” Herzog last night proposed an alternative reform he dubbed the “People’s Directive,” which strikes a middle ground between the current balance of power and government reform.
This proposal “is not perfect. It’s not what we wanted, but it’s a fair compromise that allows us to live together,” Lapid said at a press conference along with four other leaders of opposition parties who also supported the alternative reform.
But Netanyahu and his coalition rejected it as “perpetuating the existing situation and not providing the necessary balance of power”.
For many Israelis, this stance undermines democracy, and they fear Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox and ultra-nationalist allies will use it to install a “fascist theocracy.”
INTERNATIONAL AREA
The European Union (EU), the United States and other international actors such as the Jewish diaspora have expressed dismay at Netanyahu’s reform, but the Israeli government responds that it is an internal matter that does not lend itself to scrutiny offer abroad.
Netanyahu, who is currently on an official visit to Germany, met with German Foreign Minister Olaf Scholz, who expressed “great concern” about judicial reform and supported Herzog’s initiative.
“We in Germany are following the debate and, I don’t want to hide that, with great concern, because the independence of the judiciary is a great asset,” said Scholz.
Today’s demonstrations moved to several embassies, including the German and British in Tel Aviv and the American in Jerusalem.
Martin Indyk, who has twice served as US ambassador to Israel, was seen among the protests.
“Netanyahu had a way out and preferred unity within his coalition to national unity in Israel,” he tweeted.
In Jerusalem, protesters painted a giant red line across the road leading to the Supreme Court to symbolize the direct link between judicial independence and freedom of expression.
Demonstrations also took place in big cities like Haifa or Rehovot, where they placed sacks around a court to protect it from “criminal attacks by putschists”.
In Bnei Brak, a town with a majority of the ultra-Orthodox population, a group of reservists shouted slogans to urge them to serve in the military, to protest the discriminatory policies in favor of this sector of the population, which are also promoted by the executive branch and promoted by those from conscription is liberated, like the rest of the Israelis.
Ever since the controversial reform was announced at the beginning of January, which could pass the Israeli parliament before the end of the month, Herzog has tried unsuccessfully to mediate between the government and the opposition. EFE
i/fpa
(photo) (video)
© EFE 2023. The redistribution and retransmission of all or part of the content of the Efe Services is expressly prohibited without the prior and express consent of Agencia EFE SA