A nationwide day of protests against the government’s planned judicial reform began on Tuesday in Israel. Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in the morning, blocking several roads across the country and waving Israeli flags. Protest signs read, for example, “We must stop the destruction of democracy.”
Organizers have announced a “day of disruption” during which more rallies are planned. Hundreds of people called for a general strike outside the headquarters of the Confederation of Labor in Tel Aviv. It is expected that the protests could intensify in the evening. In the afternoon, thousands of Israelis plan to gather at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv.
The Israeli Minister of Energy, Israel Katz, called for this project on twitter the arrest of Roee Neuman, one of the protest leaders. According to Katz, the announced airport demonstration was planned contrary to the instructions of the police. Neuman himself repliedthe protest is legal.
The Israeli daily Haaretz reported that 24 people had been arrested and that a water cannon had been used on a road towards Jerusalem. A photographer from the newspaper was first violently arrested and then released when he reported on protests in the northern Israeli city of Haifa.
Restructuring of the judiciary has begun
Israel’s parliament approved Prime Minister Netanyahu’s controversial judicial reform bill in the first reading last night. It stipulates that the supreme court should no longer be able to assess a government decision as “inappropriate” and thus block it. Critics fear that this could encourage corruption and thus also the arbitrary filling of high-ranking positions. Two more readings are needed before the change comes into effect.
The Israeli government accuses the judges of interfering too much in political decisions. Critics see the separation of powers in danger and warn that Israel could turn into a dictatorship. The reform plans have been dividing large sections of Israeli society for more than six months.
Thousands of Israelis regularly take to the streets against the plans. The protest movement is one of the largest in the history of Israel, a country of around 9.4 million people, and it spans broad sections of society. Several companies from the high-tech industry, which is considered the driving force behind the economy in Israel, announced that they would release their employees for the demonstrations.