JERUSALEM – MARCH 27: Israelis, carrying Israeli flags and anti-government placards, gather outside the Knesset to protests against the Israeli government’s plan to introduce judicial changes.
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The federal government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu survived a no-confidence vote within the Knesset, the country’s parliament, amid what’s possibly the biggest wave of demonstrations in Israel’s history.
Mass protests are rocking Israel, and the country’s largest labor union announced a serious strike Monday in opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s months-long try and push through widely-derided judicial reforms that opponents say will pull the country toward an autocracy.
“Stop this judicial process before it is simply too late,” Arnon Bar-David, Israel’s Histadrut union leader, said in a televised speech, addressing Netanyahu directly. Histadrut — which at 800,000 members represents the vast majority of Israel’s trade unionists — declared a “historic” general strike to “stop this judicial revolution, this craziness,” Bar-David said.
Minister of Security Itamar Ben Gvir on Monday said the federal government must proceed with the reforms.
“The reform of the justice system must not be stopped and we must not give up to anarchy,” he said on Twitter, in response to a Google translation.Â
Strike paralysis
Flights out of Israel’s Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv have been suspended, as airport staff go on strike, and laborers at Haifa port — the biggest in Israel — have also stopped working. McDonald’s Israel says it has closed branches as a part of the strike motion.
Protests have taken place across Israel for the last 4 months, sparked by anger at controversial judicial reforms pushed by Netanyahu’s government, essentially the most right-wing in Israel’s history. The planned overhaul would significantly weaken the country’s judiciary and make it harder to remove Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, from power.
The proposed reforms would award executive control over appointing judges to the Supreme Court, in addition to entitle the federal government to supersede court rulings through parliamentary majority.
Monday’s demonstrations took on a latest fervor and are reported to be the largest yet, triggered by Netanyahu’s firing of his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for speaking out against the planned measures. Local news outlets are reporting that a whopping 600,000 people have come out to protest across the country.
“600,000 demonstrating is a rare figure. It means approx 6.5% of Israel’s population is out protesting tonight, many having literally woken up from their beds once they heard Bibi fired Gallant,” Monica Marks, a Middle East politics professor at NYU Abu Dhabi, wrote on Twitter. “When was the last time 6+% of any country protested? Real query.”
Netanyahu has labelled the protests an attempt “to create anarchy” and trigger one other election. A deeply divided Israel has held five snap elections since April 2019.
“We have never been closer to falling apart,” Israel’s former Prime Minister Yair Lapid told lawmakers on Monday.
“What’s happened here up to now 24 hours is madness, it’s a lack of control and a lack of direction… It’s proof that this government has lost its brakes,” he said, calling on Netanyahu to walk back his firing of his defense minister.
“It’s a danger to the state of Israel, it’s a danger to the safety of Israel. Our house is in peril,” Lapid added.
Earlier on Monday, President Isaac Herzog — whose position is basically ceremonial and apolitical — took to Twitter to call on the administration to interrupt its judicial review.
“For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of the responsibility, I call on you to stop the legislative process immediately,” he said, in response to a Google translation.
“I appeal to the heads of all Knesset factions, coalition and opposition alike, to place the residents of the country above all else, and to act responsibly and courageously without further delay. Come to your senses now! This shouldn’t be a political moment, it is a moment for leadership and responsibility.”
On Sunday, Netanyahu’s office announced the dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who had opposed the motion, escalating protests.
“We must all arise strongly against refusals,” Netanyahu said on Twitter across the time of the announcement, without directly referencing Gallant.
