Tens of hundreds of Israelis joined demonstrations on Saturday against judicial reform plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest government that protesters say will threaten democratic checks and balances on ministers by the courts.
The plans, which the federal government says are needed to curb overreach by activist judges, have drawn fierce opposition from groups including lawyers, and raised concerns amongst business leaders, widening already deep political divisions in Israeli society.
“They need to turn us right into a dictatorship, they need to destroy democracy,” the pinnacle of the Israeli Bar Association, Avi Chimi said. “They need to destroy judicial authority, there isn’t a democratic country and not using a judicial authority.”
Netanyahu has dismissed the protests, now of their third week, as a refusal by leftist opponents to just accept the outcomes of last November’s election, which produced one of the right-wing governments in Israel’s history.
The protesters say the longer term of Israeli democracy is at stake if the federal government succeeds in pushing through the plans, which might tighten political control over judicial appointments and limit the Supreme Court’s powers to overturn government decisions or Knesset laws.
In addition to threatening the independence of judges and weakening oversight of the federal government and parliament, they are saying the plans will undermine the rights of minorities and open the door to more corruption.
“We’re fighting for democracy,” said Amnon Miller, 64, amongst crowds of protesters, many bearing white and blue Israeli flags. “We fought on this country in the military for 30 years for our freedom and we won’t let this government take our freedom.”
Saturday’s protests, which Israeli media said were expected to attract greater than 100,000 people to central Tel Aviv, come days after the Supreme Court ordered Netanyahu to fireside Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, who leads the religious Shas party, over a recent tax conviction.
The brand new government, which took office this month, is an alliance between Netanyahu’s Likud party and a clutch of smaller religious and hard-right nationalist parties which say they’ve a mandate for sweeping change.
Netanyahu, who’s himself on trial on corruption charges which he denies, has defended the judicial reform plans, that are currently being examined by a parliamentary committee, saying they’ll restore a correct balance between the three branches of presidency.
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Likud politicians have long accused the Supreme Court of being dominated by leftist judges who they are saying encroach on areas outside their authority for political reasons. The court’s defenders say it plays an important role in holding the federal government to account in a rustic that has no formal structure.
A survey released by the Israel Democracy Institute last week showed trust within the Supreme Court was markedly higher amongst left-wing Israelis than amongst those on the best, but that there was no overall support for weakening the court’s powers.
Tens of hundreds of Israelis joined demonstrations on Saturday against judicial reform plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest government that protesters say will threaten democratic checks and balances on ministers by the courts.
The plans, which the federal government says are needed to curb overreach by activist judges, have drawn fierce opposition from groups including lawyers, and raised concerns amongst business leaders, widening already deep political divisions in Israeli society.
“They need to turn us right into a dictatorship, they need to destroy democracy,” the pinnacle of the Israeli Bar Association, Avi Chimi said. “They need to destroy judicial authority, there isn’t a democratic country and not using a judicial authority.”
Netanyahu has dismissed the protests, now of their third week, as a refusal by leftist opponents to just accept the outcomes of last November’s election, which produced one of the right-wing governments in Israel’s history.
The protesters say the longer term of Israeli democracy is at stake if the federal government succeeds in pushing through the plans, which might tighten political control over judicial appointments and limit the Supreme Court’s powers to overturn government decisions or Knesset laws.
In addition to threatening the independence of judges and weakening oversight of the federal government and parliament, they are saying the plans will undermine the rights of minorities and open the door to more corruption.
“We’re fighting for democracy,” said Amnon Miller, 64, amongst crowds of protesters, many bearing white and blue Israeli flags. “We fought on this country in the military for 30 years for our freedom and we won’t let this government take our freedom.”
Saturday’s protests, which Israeli media said were expected to attract greater than 100,000 people to central Tel Aviv, come days after the Supreme Court ordered Netanyahu to fireside Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, who leads the religious Shas party, over a recent tax conviction.
The brand new government, which took office this month, is an alliance between Netanyahu’s Likud party and a clutch of smaller religious and hard-right nationalist parties which say they’ve a mandate for sweeping change.
Netanyahu, who’s himself on trial on corruption charges which he denies, has defended the judicial reform plans, that are currently being examined by a parliamentary committee, saying they’ll restore a correct balance between the three branches of presidency.
Commercial
Commercial
Likud politicians have long accused the Supreme Court of being dominated by leftist judges who they are saying encroach on areas outside their authority for political reasons. The court’s defenders say it plays an important role in holding the federal government to account in a rustic that has no formal structure.
A survey released by the Israel Democracy Institute last week showed trust within the Supreme Court was markedly higher amongst left-wing Israelis than amongst those on the best, but that there was no overall support for weakening the court’s powers.
