More than 100,000 protesters gathered in Jerusalem and other cities in Israel on Monday to demonstrate against a controversial plan to overhaul Israel’s left-leaning judiciary.
The main protest took place outside the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in central Jerusalem.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said that the government’s plans for judicial reform “threatens to destroy the country at breakneck speed.”
The proposed legislation was “tearing apart the people of Israel, Israeli democracy, and coexistence. If this bill passes, the democratic chapter in the life of the state will end,” he said.
Former defense minister and opposition member Benny Gantz noted the deadly terror attacks in recent weeks, and said the judicial reform would harm Israel’s ability to combat terrorism.
Israelis protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government to overhaul the judicial system, outside the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in Jerusalem, Monday, Feb. 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Israeli security forces reinforce fencing outside the Knesset (parliament) in Jerusalem on February 13, 2023, during a rally against controversial legal reforms being touted by the country’s hard-right government. (AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty)
Israeli protesters take part in a protest against the government outside the Knesset. (Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance via Getty)
“In order to defeat terrorism, two things must be done: immediately stop the predatory legislation… and create order in the defense establishment,” Gantz said.
Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai said the proposals would turn Israel into a dictatorship and that this wasn’t a case of “the right versus the left,” but a case of the “good guys versus the bad guys.”
“Countries can turn from a democracy into a dictatorship, as is happening here. Dictatorships only become democratic again with bloodshed. That is the history of the world,” Huldai declared.
The first reading for legislation relating to the reform was delayed until next week.
Israeli security forces reinforce fencing outside the Knesset (parliament) in Jerusalem on February 13, 2023, during a rally against controversial legal reforms being touted by the country’s hard-right government. (AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)
Trains to the capital city were jam packed with protesters.
Among the proposals, presented early last month by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, is cancelling the so-called “reasonableness measure” by which the Supreme Court can strike down any law or government action it deems “unreasonable.”
For example, the court ruled it “unreasonable” to allow religious Jews to pray on the Temple Mount – Judaism’s holiest site – because doing so would anger the Arab world. Other changes would include the appointment of justices, which is currently done by an “independent” committee and behind closed doors, something that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he wants to change to allow elected officials to have more say in.
Israeli protesters take part in a protest against the right-wing government outside the Knesset. (Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance via Getty)
The Netanyahu-led government maintains the people who elected it want to limit the unbridled power of judiciary.
“Several months ago, there was a huge demonstration, the mother of all demonstrations,” Prime Minister Netanyahu stated last month. “Millions of people took to the streets to vote in the elections. One of the main topics that they voted on was reforming the judicial system.”