NEWSLETTER
© Reuters. Israelis protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new right-wing coalition and his proposed judicial reforms to reduce the powers of the Supreme Court in Tel Aviv, Israel, February 4, 2023. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
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JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of Israelis braved heavy rain on Saturday in the fifth week of protests against judicial reform plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government that critics say threaten democratic controls over ministers by part of the courts.
The plans, which the government says are necessary to curb judges’ overreach, drew fierce opposition from groups including lawyers and sparked concern among business leaders, widening already deep political divisions in Israeli society.
“I am here tonight to protest against Israel’s transition from a democracy to an autocracy,” Dov Levenglick, 48, a software engineer, told Reuters in Tel Aviv.
“It’s a shame, it won’t stick.”
Netanyahu has dismissed the protests as a refusal by leftist opponents to accept the results of last November’s elections, which produced one of the most right-wing governments in Israel’s history.
Protesters say Israeli democracy would be undermined if the government succeeds in pushing through the plans, which would tighten political control over judicial appointments and limit the powers of the Supreme Court to overturn government decisions or Knesset laws.
“They want to destroy Israel’s judicial system, they want to destroy Israeli democracy, and we are here every week in all weathers … to fight against it and to fight for Israeli democracy,” said Hadar Segal, 35. Reuters in Tel Aviv.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid joined the demonstrations in the coastal city of Haifa, where he said the protesters “came to save their country and we came to protest with them.”
