Thousands of Israelis have hit the streets of Tel Aviv in protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government’s plans to restructure the nation’s legal system and undermine the Supreme Court.
According to police and Israeli media, at least more than 100,000 people participated in the protests on Saturday.
The event, which gathered tens of thousands, came after another one last week and was an early protest against Netanyahu and his ultranationalist and ultraorthodox cabinet, the most right-wing in Israeli history. It claims that its judicial reforms are necessary to rein in activist judges’ overreach, but the proposals have faced vehement resistance from groups, particularly attorneys, and prompted questions among business executives.
The courts’ democratic checks and balances on ministers, according to opponents, are in jeopardy.
The head of the Israeli Bar Association, Avi Chimi, stated that “they want to make us into a dictatorship and they want to destroy democracy.”
There cannot be a democracy in a country without a judicial authority, thus they aim to abolish it.
The rallies, which are now in their third week, have been described by Netanyahu as a leftist opposition’s refusal to recognize the election results from last November.
The prime minister, who is facing corruption charges, has vowed to continue the reforms.
The future of Israeli democracy, according to the protesters, is at risk if the government is successful in implementing the plans because they would tighten political control over judicial appointments and restrict the Supreme Court’s ability to overturn governmental decisions or Knesset laws. The protesters carried Israeli flags and banners that read, “Our Children will not Live in a Dictatorship.”
They assert that the measures will harm minorities’ rights and pave the way for further corruption in addition to endangering judges’ independence and undermining scrutiny of the executive and legislative branches.