Protesters filled Tel Aviv’s Habima Square on Saturday to express their rejection of an initiative that would grant more power to the Executive to the detriment of Justice, whose independence would be profoundly weakened.
More of 70,000 Israelis demonstrated this Saturday in Tel Aviv against the judicial reform plans of the new government of Benjamin Netanyahuin the largest protest in the country in years and before what they consider a threat to the democratic system.
Protesters packed Tel Aviv’s Habima Square to express their rejection of an initiative that would grant more power to the Executive to the detriment of Justicewhose independence would be profoundly weakened.
Those present, of all ages and coming from different parts of the country, came with Israeli flags and umbrellas to protect themselves from the intense winter rain that hit the city this Saturday.
Some also arrived with posters with messages against the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his justice minister, Yariv Levin, in addition to the characteristic black flags that have marked the protests against the prime minister in recent years.
The demonstration on Saturday in Tel Aviv, which was also attended by several opposition politicians, was the largest on record for several years and spread beyond Habima Square, with multiple adjacent streets packed with people.
Habima Square in Tel Aviv, to overflowing. EFE.
This was also joined by two other major protests in the cities of Haifa and Jerusalem, which were attended by some 2,000 people, according to Israeli media estimates.
Although the Police had warned about the possibility of riots due to the large concentration of people and deployed about a thousand agents, the protest in Tel Aviv took place in a calm atmosphere and without major incidents.
“I am a concerned citizen, concerned about Israel’s legal regime and I fear that a government led by a person who is dealing with many criminal cases will undertake a massive reform that will modify the essence of the Israeli legal regime,” Israeli Wilhelm Alter explained to EFE. , in reference to the trial that Netanyahu faces accused of fraud, bribery and breach of trust in three different cases of corruption.
Another of the protesters, Dorit Volach, moved with her family from the town of Kiryat Ono and said she was “worried about the future of the country and the anti-democratic processes it is going through.”
Protesters carry a portrait of Netanyahu, wearing a crown. EFE.
Keys to the reform
The judicial reform plans announced by the new Minister of Justice include a controversial measure that would allow a simple majority of parliamentarians to annul a decision of the Supreme Court that involves repealing a law or government decision, known as “the cancellation clause”.
This would pave the way for the Executive to prevail over the Judiciary in the event of a conflict between the two.
On the other hand, the reform also contemplates regulations that would replace to the lawyers of the Judicial Appointments Committee for political charges and eliminates the so-called “reasonableness” assumption so that the Supreme Court can prevent the appointment of senior political officials if it considers that they have violated the law.
Rejection of the population and Justice
The rejection of the population has been felt since the inauguration of the current Executive, motivating multiple protests in recent weeks.
This Saturday’s demonstration is the second in a row in Tel Aviv and adds to the rejection of the reform by senior Justice officials, including the president of the Supreme Court, Esther Hayut, who described it this week as “a mortal wound to the independence of Justice.
The one who also questioned the plans of the new Executive was the former president of the Supreme Court, Ayala Procaccia, who addressed the public during the demonstration this Saturday in Tel Aviv and warned that “a country in which judges have to take to the streets to protest It’s a country where all lines have been crossed.”
“We are at the beginning of a new era in which there is a new definition of democracy: a democracy that is incomplete and based entirely on the supposed will of the voter, which no longer gives weight to other basic democratic values,” Procaccia added to the worried crowd.
Source: Eitb
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