Status: 04/01/2023 10:42 p.m
The protests against the restructuring of the judiciary in Israel continue, hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets again. They do not trust Prime Minister Netanyahu’s temporary halt to the bill.
Mass protests against the government and its plans to weaken the judiciary continue in Israel. Despite the temporary halt to the reform, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets for the 13th week in a row. According to Israeli media, more than 170,000 people attended the main rally in Tel Aviv alone. The police used water cannons.
“The government doesn’t want an agreement, it just wants to gain time to pass the judicial coup,” the organizers said. “This is the most critical time since the founding of the state.” They accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, known as Bibi, of just playing for time. Nationwide, the organizers spoke of more than 450,000 people demonstrating in around 150 locations. “Netanyahu’s attempt to silence the protesters has failed.”
“We don’t believe a word out of Bibi’s mouth”
In Jerusalem, opponents of judicial reform demonstrated in front of President Isaac Herzog’s headquarters, where representatives of the governing coalition and opposition are negotiating a compromise. “We don’t believe a word that comes out of Bibi’s mouth,” said one demonstrator. “We believe it’s just a political maneuver to end the protests.”
After massive protests and the announcement of a general strike, Netanyahu postponed the bill for a few weeks on Monday. But it could be back on the agenda as early as April.
Several talks between the coalition and the opposition have taken place since Tuesday. Politicians from the opposition parties, however, repeatedly doubted Netanyahu’s seriousness in wanting to reach a compromise. Netanyahu’s coalition had already announced that it would continue with the legislative process in the next parliamentary session if the talks failed.
Critics see the separation of powers in danger
The reform aims to curtail the influence of the Supreme Court. Among other things, Parliament should have more influence on the appointment of judges and be allowed to overrule court decisions. The critics see this as an attack on the separation of powers and warn of a state crisis if the reform is implemented.
Netanyahu benefits personally
The weakening of the Supreme Court is not the only goal of judicial reform. Parliament has already passed another partial law – it makes it much more difficult to remove a prime minister from office. The change is said to be personally tailored to Netanyahu, who is accused of fraud, embezzlement and corruption. He has always denied the allegations and stressed that the government’s plans had nothing to do with his trial. The law could still be stopped by the judiciary.