Israelis gathered in towns and cities nationwide on Saturday for year 11th straight week of protests against the judicial reform plans of the hard-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The protesters fear that the proposed reforms, which are already moving through parliament and would increase the power of politicians over the courts, are a threat to Israeli democracy.
In Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff square, thousands of demonstrators waved the blue and white Israeli flag of Israel, as well as the rainbow flag of the LGBTQ community. The demonstrators blocked roads as they set off on a march through the heart of the city.
Israeli media reported demonstrations in more than 100 towns and cities, including Haifa, Jerusalem and Beersheba. Since Netanyahu’s government announced the reforms in January, days after taking office, massive demonstrations have regularly taken place across Israel.
Opponents of the package have accused Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charge she denies, of trying to use the reforms to quash possible judgments against him. The prime minister has rejected the accusation.
Expressing concern over the deepening rift in Israeli society, President Isaac Herzog presented a proposed compromise on Wednesday, but the government immediately rejected it. “Anyone who thinks that a genuine civil war, with human lives, is a line that we could never reach, has no idea what he is talking about,” Herzog said.
Leaders of opposition parties said in a joint news conference on Thursday they supported Herzog’s outline. “The offer is not perfect,” said former former Yair Lapid. “It is not what we wanted, but it is a fair compromise that allows us to live together.”
The ruling coalition, which includes ultra-Orthodox Jews and extreme-right parties, argues the proposed reforms are necessary to correct a power imbalance between elected representatives and Israel’s top court.
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Immediately after Herzog’s announcement, Netanyahu called it a “unilateral compromise”, the “key points” of which “only perpetuate the existing situation and do not bring the required balance between the powers”.
The reforms would, among other things, allow lawmakers to scrap supreme court rulings with a simple majority vote. Other proposals would give more weight to the government in the committee that selects judges and would deny the supreme court the right to strike down any amendments to so-called Basic Laws, Israel’s quasi-constitution.