Jerusalem, Israel – In what was billed as one of the largest protests in Israel’s history, more than 80,000 people demonstrated in Jerusalem on Monday against proposed justice reforms by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Other protests also took place across the country.
Protesters, who marched and gathered outside Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, held up flags and chanted “democracy” and “no to dictatorship” as Netanyahu’s government formally launched a controversial plan to overhaul the country’s justice system .
Under the suggested plan, which was introduced in mid-January, the ruling coalition will have control over the appointment of judges, including High Court judges, and allow the Knesset to re-legislate laws the court overturns by majority or simple majority of 61 of the 120 Knesset members.
The government will also be able to appoint the president and vice-president of the supreme court, neither of whom must have previously served in the court and potentially not even served as a junior judge. Justice Minister Yariv Levin said the high court had exceeded its authority over the past two decades and had seriously interfered with the ability of coalitions and elected ministers to implement government policies.
About 80,000 Israelis gathered to protest against the judicial reforms promoted by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. (Maya Meshel)
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Addressing the tens of thousands of protesters, Eliad Shraga, founder and president of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel and one of the protest organizers, opened his speech with a quote from the Book of Isaiah: “Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Eternal has spoken, I have fed and reared children, and they have rebelled against me “. Isaiah was the prophet who foresaw the destruction of the Second Temple, and Shraga warned of the destruction of the third temple; the state of Israel.
He warned that “day and night, in the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, he is carrying out anti-democratic legislation, the laws that will transform Israel overnight from a liberal democracy into a fascist dictatorship.”
On Sunday, President Isaac Herzog called on Netanyahu and his coalition allies to suspend the legislation and engage with the opposition in a special televised address to the nation. Netanyahu did not respond to the call.
Herzog stressed the importance of reaching a broad compromise and presented his five-point plan for Israel’s balance of power.
Israelis wave national flags during the protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government to overhaul the judicial system, outside the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in Jerusalem, Monday, February 13, 2023. Thousands of Israelis protested outside the parliament of the the country next Monday of a preliminary vote on a bill that would give politicians more power over the appointment of judges, part of a judicial overhaul proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
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“Reform is the creation of a camp that feels the powers [of the branches of government] are biased,” Herzog said. “I feel – we all feel – that we are moments away from an incident, possibly even a violent one,” he said. “Both sides need to understand that if only one side wins, it doesn’t matter which side is on – we will all lose. The State of Israel will lose.”
Netanyahu released a short video after Monday’s mass demonstration in which he called on opposition leaders to “Stop it. Stop deliberately deteriorating the country towards anarchy. Take care of yourself and show responsibility and leadership. Most Most Israeli citizens don’t want anarchy. They want a substantive discussion and, in the end, they want unity,” he said.
Despite Herzog’s appeal, the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, led by MP Simcha Rothman, approved the second bill that would prevent the Supreme Court from striking down legislation amending one of the basic laws semi -constitutional laws of Israel, effectively limiting the court’s power of judicial review on fundamental issues.
Voting now sends legislation to the entire parliament for a series of votes. The step caused chaos in the committee, as members of the opposition who opposed the move shouted “shame” at Rothman and were removed from the meeting.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Sunday, February 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, Pool)
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Outside, protesters continued to pour in. Parents pushed baby carriages, elderly people and others marched waving Israeli flags. Women’s organizations marched in red cloaks and white caps, declaring that “Israel will not become Gilead,” in reference to The Handmaid’s Tale. It is “a warning against the transformation of the State of Israel from an egalitarian democracy into a theocracy that separates women and tramples on their rights,” they said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Before joining protesters outside the Knesset, opposition leaders issued a joint statement, calling on some members of Netanyahu’s Likud to “stop the disaster”. Former Defense Minister Benny Gantz said: “The entire opposition and many other Israeli citizens who voted for coalition parties are united against the targeted assassination being carried out against Israeli democracy.”
Former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid has warned that if the bill is passed, it would tear Israeli society apart. “If this legislation passes, the democratic chapter in the life of the state will end,” which would end Israeli democracy.”
After the protest, Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Rothman, who orchestrated and initiated the reform, called on opposition leaders to “start talking without preconditions. It’s time,” they said, addressing opposition leader Yair Lapid and the head of the National Unity Party Benny Gantz.
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Protesters march on Monday against the Israeli government’s new judicial reforms in Jerusalem. (Maya Meshel)
Both Lapid and Gantz responded that they were both willing to enter negotiations as long as they disrupted the legislative process for the duration of the talks. Labor Party leader Merav Michaeli told Fox News Digital that “as long as there’s a gun to the head of Israeli democracy, you can’t discuss anything with Rothman and Levin. Anything else is surrendered.”
David Amsalem, who serves as a minister in the justice ministry, said during a Knesset debate that the protesters were “anarchists and thugs”. We will pass this legislation, and anyone who crosses it will face a criminal charge.”
Yonat Friling is a Senior Filed Producer with Fox News. You can follow her @FrilingYonat
