Tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrate against judicial reform plan

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By Webdesk


Plans by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to weaken the Supreme Court have outraged many in Israeli society.

Tens of thousands of protesters have flocked to Tel Aviv and cities across Israel to express opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government and its divisive plan to overhaul the country’s justice system.

Crowds of Israelis held banners with the words “Minister of Crime” on Netanyahu’s face in Tel Aviv during Saturday’s protest, the latest in a series of weekly actions since the beginning of the year.

Plans by the Netanyahu government to weaken the Supreme Court have outraged Israelis, who see it as an attack on their country’s system of checks and balances and a threat to democracy itself.

“This is not about so-called legal reform, it’s about democracy,” Sheila Katz, head of the National Council of Jewish Women, said at the rally in central Tel Aviv.

“To ensure that your holy courts protect the rights of all people, they must remain independent of politics.”

Protests last month brought Israeli cities to a halt and threatened to shut down the economy, forcing Netanyahu to postpone the justice reform plan in hopes of finding a compromise.

The demonstrators, however, were not deterred. Crowds of Israelis chanted “Shame!” flooded the streets in the weeks after Netanyahu pulled out demanding that the revision be scrapped altogether.

The plan would give Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, and his partners in Israel’s most hardline coalition in its history, the final say in appointing the country’s judges.

It would also give parliament, which is controlled by its allies, the power to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit the court’s ability to review laws.

Fear for the future

Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Jamjoom, reporting from Tel Aviv, said many people who came to the protest with their children expressed concern for future generations.

“They believe that what is happening now with the revision plan is a real danger to democracy in Israel,” Jamjoom said. “And if they are adopted, they will push this country towards autocracy.”

The protests have empowered people throughout Israeli society.

Thousands of officers in the army’s elite reserve units have said they will refuse to report for duty. High-tech business executives and the security company have spoken out against the proposal. Unions have called for a general strike.

The United States, Israel’s most crucial ally, has even publicly rejected Netanyahu, with President Joe Biden telling him he “cannot continue on this path.”



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