A national day of protests against the government’s planned judicial reform began in Israel on Tuesday. Thousands of protesters took to the streets this morning, blocking several roads across the country and waving Israeli flags. Protest placards read, for example, “We must stop the destruction of democracy”.
The organizers have announced a “day off” during which other demonstrations are planned. Hundreds of people have called a general strike in front of the headquarters of the Confederation of Labor in Tel Aviv. The protests are expected to intensify in the evening. In the afternoon, thousands of Israelis plan to gather at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv.
Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz has called for this project on Twitter the arrest of Roee Neuman, one of the leaders of the protest. According to Katz, the announced demonstration at the airport was planned contrary to police instructions. Neumann himself he answeredprotest is legal.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that 24 people were arrested and that a water cannon was used on a road into Jerusalem. A newspaper photographer was first violently arrested and then released when he reported on protests in the northern Israeli city of Haifa.
The restructuring of the judiciary has begun
Yesterday evening, the Israeli parliament approved Prime Minister Netanyahu’s controversial judicial reform bill in first reading. It stipulates that the supreme court should no longer be able to assess a government decision as “inappropriate” and thus block it. Critics fear this could encourage corruption and thus also the arbitrary filling of high-ranking positions. Two more readings are needed before the change takes effect.
The Israeli government accuses the judges of interfering too much in political decisions. Critics see the separation of powers in jeopardy and warn that Israel could turn into a dictatorship. The reform plans have been dividing large sections of Israeli society for more than six months.
Thousands of Israelis regularly take to the streets against the plans. The protest movement is one of the largest in the history of Israel, a country of about 9.4 million people, and includes large sectors of society. Several companies in the high-tech industry, which is considered the driving force of Israel’s economy, announced that they would release their employees for demonstrations.
