Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed Haaretz, has already agreed to freeze the passage of judicial reform, due to which mass protests have not diminished in the country for the third month. What is special about this initiative, what it led to and what happened on the streets of Israel – in the material of RTVI.
What is judicial reform?
Judicial reform was introduced in January 2023. The main changes are that Israel’s executive branch gains more control over the appointment of Supreme Court justices and allows the government to overturn judicial decisions based on a simple parliamentary majority.
These are the most significant changes to the Israeli judicial system since its founding in 1948, Remarks CNN.
Critics of the bill consider this reform would give the government unchecked power, disenfranchise individuals and minorities, and deepen divisions in an already divided society.
Abir Sultan/AP
Opponents of the reform also fear that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing a corruption trial, could use the changes to solve his legal problems.
Protests and strikes
Judicial reform prompted mass protests. On the night of March 27, they entered a new round after Netanyahu sacked Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant, who called for the reform to be suspended.
On Monday evening, demonstrations took place in more than 150 places, informed Haretz. Protesters blocked traffic in central Tel Aviv and Haifa, as well as the entrance to the city of Beersheba in southern Israel and the road near the border with the Gaza Strip. People lit bonfires and chanted calls for Netanyahu’s resignation.
Demonstrators also gathered near the home of one of the lawmakers of the poisoning Likud party and at the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem. The police used water cannons against them.
Israeli TV Channel 12 put the number of protests at 600-700,000 people, Haaretz wrote of “tens of thousands” of protesters. Official data on the number of protesters was not called. Police say three security guards were injured in clashes with protesters.
On the morning of March 27, the head of the General Federation of Trade Unions in Israel, Arnon Bar-David, announced a general strike in the country until the withdrawal of judicial reform.
Ohad Zwigenberg / AP
The strike was joined by Israel’s main airport named after Ben-Gurion in Tel Aviv, the doctors’ union, representatives of the IT sector, kindergartens, schools, universities, shopping malls, authorities municipal, writing The Times of Israel. Several heads of Israeli towns have started a hunger strike.
Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog has called on the government to halt judicial reform, noting that the country’s security, economy and society are at risk.
“In the interest of unity with the people of Israel, in the interest of the responsibility entrusted to us, I ask you to immediately stop the legislative process,” the duke said.
American and Russian reaction
White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrianne Watson said the United States was “deeply concerned” about the situation in Israel and urged the country’s authorities to “find a compromise as soon as possible” .
“Democratic societies are strengthened by a system of checks and balances, and fundamental changes in the democratic system must be made with the widest possible support of the people,” Watson said.
Moscow is also monitoring the situation in Israel “with concern”, informed TASS Special Representative of the President of Russia for the Middle East and Africa, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov.
“The main thing is that there are no problems for our citizens, of whom there are many. We are watching, but let them find out for themselves,” he said.
