On Saturday night, protesters rallied across Israel for the 28th weekend of demonstrations against judiciary reform, with political tensions rising as the coalition pushes ahead with legislation to weaken the courts’ powers.
According to Crowd Solutions, quoted by Channel 13 News, more than 150,000 people attended the main rally on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv. Protesters there scrawled “Biden save us” in the street to exert international pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition amid mounting criticism of the US administration’s judicial restructuring.
Anti-government protesters have stepped up their resistance in recent weeks as the coalition pushes legislation that would prevent courts from invalidating or even debating government and ministerial decisions on the grounds that they are “reasonable”.
The government wants the bill to come into force by the end of the month, when the Knesset goes on summer recess.
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Saturday’s protesters are the prelude to Tuesday, when protesters plan nationwide rallies and riots, vowing to use any means at their disposal to crack down on the legislation.
“They want another country. Instead of Zionist, racist. Political appointments instead of gatekeepers. The danger is here and now. We will fight until we win,” Dan Meridor, a former MP for the ruling Likud party and once Minister of Justice, told the crowd on Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street.
“Today the most extreme government in the history of Israel reigns here. A government that is endangering the future of the country. “An administration that degrades our booming economy, plunges relations with the United States into an unprecedented crisis of values, takes our international standing to a dangerous low, and places the best of our soldiers in moral dilemmas,” Meridor added, referring to Bidens Comments on this coalition.
Former Likud Minister Dan Meridor speaks at a protest against the government’s judicial reform plans in Tel Aviv, July 15, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
The government is busy “spreading lies, hate speech and hatred that threaten to divide Israeli society,” Meridor accused.
Smaller rallies were also held across Israel on Saturday, including outside the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem, which is close to where Netanyahu resides while the site is being renovated.
Netanyahu was not at home as he stayed in a hospital overnight after suffering from apparent dehydration following a trip to the Sea of Galilee.
“Do you think it reasonable for a person accused of criminal activity to serve as Prime Minister? Do you think it reasonable that the minister in charge of police could be a criminal and a racist?” Moshe Ya’alon, a former defense minister under Netanyahu, called on Jerusalem to protest.
Ya’alon referred to the ongoing criminal case against the Prime Minister and the previous criminal convictions of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
“Are you ready for this government to turn Israel into a dictatorship by removing the sanity test?” Ya’alon added.
He also wished Netanyahu a full recovery while accusing him of damaging Israel’s security, economy and international relations.
“The State of Israel needs the sanity test more than ever because we are in an unreasonable situation,” opposition leader Yair Lapid told protesters in Hod Hasharon.
“[National Security Minister Itamar] ben gvir, [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich, [MK Simcha] Rothman and [Justice Minister Yariv] Levin attempts to stage a hostile takeover of Israel. We won’t let them. We are the Israeli majority, we are not here just to pay taxes and send our children to the army. They will not silence us,” added Lapid, who heads the Yesh Atid party.
“When the adequacy ground is lifted, all fences are broken, all boundaries are crossed. We need the adequacy clause because we have an unreasonable government. We need it because court is our last line of defense.”
Shikma Bressler, one of the main leaders of the protest movement, addressed about 2,500 protesters at the Karkur junction in the north of the country and said it was the start of a “critical week” in the country’s history.
“We have to raise our voice. Law enforcement must continue to protest and fight to prevent the ongoing legislative process,” she said.
Meanwhile, at a rally in Bat Yam, two suspects, aged 22 and 32, were arrested by police for threatening and assaulting protesters.
Eggs were thrown at protesters at Tzemach Junction near Tiberias, Channel 13 News reported.
Also on Saturday, activists set up what they described as “the first outpost of democracy”: They set up a camp in front of Herzliya’s magistrates’ court, which includes a six-metre-tall tower on which hangs a copy of the Israeli Declaration of Independence.
“This week the government will pass a law that will bring us to the brink of dictatorship,” activist Dana Oren-Yania told Walla news site.
“We have our backs to the wall, so we decided to build the first democratic outpost in the spirit of ‘tower and stockade,'” she said, referring to the settlement method used by Zionist pioneers in British-ruled Mandatory Palestine was applied.
Demonstrators opposed to coalition judicial reform gather in Kfar Saba, July 14, 2023 (Gabriel Melzer)
Protest organizers said Tuesday’s protests “would usher in an unprecedented week of civil resistance and disobedience to judicial reform.”
The government’s decision to move forward with the adequacy law has also prompted fresh warnings from Israel Defense Forces reservists – including pilots and elite commando units – that they would no longer be reporting for duty when the law goes into effect.
They were also joined on Friday by the Israel Medical Association, which warned hospitals and doctors could go on strike against the bill.
The association held emergency talks on Thursday to discuss the impact of the law, and members agreed that “it will destroy the healthcare system and not just be a theoretical problem,” said IMA Chairman Prof Zion Hagay.
The warnings of harm to the medical sector join similar warnings issued by high-tech workers, economists, lawyers and the military, all of whom warned that if the law were passed, it would harm democracy, business and would harm Israel’s security.
The coalition has vowed to press ahead with changes to the judiciary despite protests, which have included daily rallies outside politicians’ homes and weekly mass actions aimed at shutting down the country and putting pressure on the government to pull out. Critics say the reform will radically weaken the courts and remove control of government power, threatening the country’s democratic character. Supporters say the changes are necessary to crack down on an overly activist and politically biased judiciary.
The head of the Knesset’s Constitutional Committee, Simcha Rothman, plans to bring his “reasonableness” bill through his Knesset committee next week, with the controversial law set to come into force the following week.
The legislative push, which has resumed after a pause of several weeks to allow talks, continues to increase tensions between the government and its opponents. A Channel 12 poll on Friday found that a full 67% of Israelis fear civil war. Another 29% said they didn’t know, while 4% said they didn’t know.
Of those who voted for Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling bloc in the Knesset, 56% said they feared such a possibility, while 41% said they did not. In the opposite camp, the numbers were 85% and 14%, respectively.