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Thousands join Israeli judicial protests in shadow of attacks

Published 04/08/2023, 01:49 PM
Updated 04/08/2023, 09:46 PM
© Reuters. People wearing red, stand in a line during a demonstration against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his nationalist coalition government's judicial overhaul, in Tel Aviv, Israel, April 8, 2023. REUTERS/Ilan Rosenberg

© Reuters. People wearing red, stand in a line during a demonstration against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his nationalist coalition government's judicial overhaul, in Tel Aviv, Israel, April 8, 2023. REUTERS/Ilan Rosenberg

By Rami Amichay

TEL AVIV (Reuters) -Tens of thousands of Israelis joined protests on Saturday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to tighten controls on the Supreme Court, despite heightened security worries after two deadly attacks a day earlier.

The latest in a series of protests against the plans, which were paused last month in the face of a wave of strikes and mass demonstrations, come as Israel faces a sharp rise in tensions on several fronts during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Around Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, tens of thousands of worshippers were expected for evening prayers amid concerns over a possible repeat of nighttime police raids this week that were followed by rocket barrages into Israel and Israeli strikes into Gaza and Southern Lebanon.

Israelis were also on edge after a car-ramming in Tel Aviv on Friday that killed an Italian man and wounded five other tourists, hours after a gun attack killed two Israeli sisters and wounded their mother near a settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Netanyahu has mobilised border police reservists and ordered the army to reinforce security positions to head off possible trouble, amid calls for calm from the United Nations, the European Union and the United States.

In central Tel Aviv, crowds waving the blue and white Israeli flags that have become a hallmark of the protests over the past three months gathered in a show of defiance against plans they see as an existential threat to Israeli democracy.

The demonstration began with a prayer for the victims of the attacks a day earlier but protesters said they would not be put off by security worries.

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"Security is one thing but reform is another," said 26-year-old student Amitay Ginsberg. "We're still going to come here and say loud and clear that we will not let this reform pass."

The proposals, which would give the government effective control over the appointment of Supreme Court judges and allow parliament to overrule many decisions of the court, have caused one of the biggest domestic crises in Israel's recent history.

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators, including army reservists, business leaders, members of Israel's tech industry and leading academics have taken part, facing off against supporters of Netanyahu's religious-nationalist coalition.

The government side, which accuses activist judges of increasingly usurping the role of parliament, says the overhaul is needed to restore a proper balance between the judiciary and elected politicians.

Critics say it will remove some of the vital checks and balances underpinning a democratic state and hand unchecked power to the government.

Before the protests, police had urged people to leave roads clear to allow emergency services to move freely following Friday's car-ramming on a popular shoreline promenade in Tel Aviv.

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Latest comments

Josef KohenApr 09, 2023, 17:20
this clip is nonsense, Israel is under dictatorship from the supreme court, at the end the government will pass the reform .
Drew AndrewsApr 09, 2023, 09:54
Bibi has sided with Zealots to make sure he keeps out of Jail. He had no other option to make a government. This so called reform is designed to bring all supreme court decisions under parliamentary control. This in effect forms a nation without any real defence for the update individual. This whole hotch potch form of politics would have been avoided had Yair Lapid not been so irresponsible towards his voters and bothered to make an agreement to include excess voters from smaller parties. All it needed to avoid this situation was a measley 4000 votes. This shows us that Bibi does not have a true majority but one formed out of political incompetence of his rival party leader. Zealotism always caused the fall of Israel and judging by the direction of internal events and the external problems they cause, one worries that the prophecy of a final exile just might materialize.
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