Hundreds of thousands of people have been taking to the streets in Israel for months and demonstrating against the planned judicial reform. They fear Netanyahu’s government could soon start a new attempt to push the project through.
In Israel, numerous people have again taken to the streets against the planned judicial reform. More than 100,000 people gathered in Tel Aviv alone. In other cities, too, thousands took to the streets to show their displeasure.
For about four months there have been repeated rallies against the reforms of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government. He put the project on hold in March for the time being. Talks between the government and the opposition mediated by President Iszchak Herzog about the plans have so far not resulted in an agreement. Critics therefore fear that the government could dare a new push to push through the reform.
Budget not yet approved
However, that would not happen so quickly. First of all, the government would have to approve the budget for the current and the coming year. If this is not achieved by May 29th, the parliament would automatically dissolve and a new election would be necessary.
Ultra-Orthodox parties are currently blocking it. They have made their approval of the budget conditional: They want a law that de facto exempts strictly religious men from military service. In the liberal camp, this causes great anger.
Critics see democracy in danger
With the restructuring of the Israeli judiciary, Netanyahu’s coalition wants to limit the influence of the Supreme Court and expand the government’s position of power. She accuses the court of excessive interference in political decisions.
The reform should also allow Parliament to overrule decisions of the Supreme Court with a simple majority. Critics see this as a danger to the separation of powers and warn of a state crisis if the plans are implemented in this way.