Today the Knesset intends to pass a central element of the planned judicial reform. Democracy in Israel is at a crossroads. Tens of thousands of opponents of the reform have gathered in front of the parliament in Jerusalem. How much more can you do?
If you want to understand what kind of country Israel is, you have to go to Sacher Park in Jerusalem this Monday morning, located below the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. Today she wants to vote on a crucial part of the controversial judicial reform that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has been pushing for months, despite all the protests. Thousands of opponents of the project have therefore pitched their tents here. Already at five in the morning people are standing all over the park and discussing, the smell of coffee wafts over the scene.
“Listen to me,” says a man in his 30s, toothbrush in one hand and a blue and white Israel flag in the other. “Wait, listen to me first,” says another, in his early 20s, in ultra-Orthodox garb with a yarmulke, white shirt, and black suit pants. Three or four other young men are standing around him. They look like they stopped by here on their way to the Torah school. “They’ve been discussing here since last night, all night,” says a woman in her mid-30s. “Women’s fight for freedom” is written on her T-shirt. “But the Orthodox are our hope. They’re curious and are looking for a discussion with us, not like these fascists who want to abolish our democracy today. You can’t talk to them.”