Tens of thousands protested judicial reform plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government that they say will threaten democratic checks and balances on ministers by the courts.
Former Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid joined tens of thousands of protesters in Tel Aviv Saturday, as frustration mounts over a raft of controversial moves by the new administration.
“People who love the state came to defend its democracy, its courts, the idea of a common life and a common good,” Lapid tweeted, vowing to “not give up until we win.”
Saturday’s demonstration was the largest so far since Lapid’s successor Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power last month at the head of the most right-wing government in the country’s history.
Some 100,000 protesters turned out in central Tel Aviv, according to Israeli media estimates, filling the streets with blue and white national flags. Police did not immediately give a figure for the crowds.
Protesters slammed judicial reform plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government that they say will threaten democratic checks and balances on ministers by the courts.
The plans, which the government says are needed to curb overreach by activist judges, have drawn fierce opposition from groups including lawyers, and raised concerns among business leaders, widening already deep political divisions in Israeli society.
“They want to turn us into a dictatorship, they want to destroy democracy,” the head of the Israeli Bar Association, Avi Chimi said. “They want to destroy judicial authority, there is no democratic country without a judicial authority.”
Netanyahu has dismissed the protests, now in their third week, as a refusal by leftist opponents to accept the results of last November’s election, which produced one of the most right-wing governments in Israel’s history.
The protesters say the future of democracy is at stake if the government succeeds in pushing through the plans, which would tighten political control over judicial appointments and limit the Supreme Court’s powers to overturn government decisions or Knesset laws.
Comments are closed.