2023-07-23 01:10:00
For months there have been protests in Israel against plans by the right-wing religious government to restructure the judiciary. A day-long protest march joined by 70,000 people has now arrived in Jerusalem.
According to organizers, a day-long protest march against the controversial judicial reform of the right-wing religious government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with tens of thousands of people has arrived in Jerusalem. Several hundred demonstrators had started the approximately 70-kilometer hike from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on Tuesday evening.
In the past few days, the kilometer-long protest march has grown in size. According to estimates by the Israeli broadcaster Channel 13, more than 70,000 people took part on Saturday.
Planned overnight stay in front of the Parliament
Rallies with thousands of people also took place in other cities in Israel in the evening. Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Tel Aviv. There were further demonstrations in Beersheva, Herzliya and Kfar Saba.
Judicial reform divides the country
Israel’s government plans to present a core element of its plans to weaken the judiciary to MPs on Sunday morning. However, the final passage of the controversial law is not expected before Monday afternoon.
For more than six months, the project has divided large sections of Israeli society. Thousands regularly take to the streets.
Resistance and protest by reservists
Recently, resistance within the military has also increased: more than 1,100 reservists in the Israeli air force threatened to suspend their voluntary service if parliament passed the reform. “We all have a collective responsibility to overcome deep divisions, polarization and rifts among the people,” 1,142 reservists said in a statement.
They called on the government “to find a broad consensus, to strengthen the trust of all sections of the people in the judicial system and to protect its independence”.
Any legislation executed in an “irrational manner would erode my willingness to continue risking my life and would force me, with great regret, to suspend my voluntary reserve duty,” the signatories, which include 235 fighter jet pilots, said.
Negotiations on a compromise on the judicial reform have so far been unsuccessful. According to media reports, efforts should continue in the background.
Critics fear corruption and arbitrariness
The law is part of a larger package that critics see as a threat to Israel’s democracy. The country’s highest court should no longer be able to judge a decision by the government or individual ministers as “inappropriate”.
Critics fear that this will encourage corruption and thus the arbitrary filling of important posts and layoffs. The Netanyahu government, on the other hand, accuses the judiciary of interfering too much in political decisions.
Netanyahu gets pacemaker
In the evening, Netanyahu announced that he would undergo heart surgery that night. This will take place at the Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer near Tel Aviv. The 73-year-old had already spent a night there last week after health problems. “I’m doing great, but I’m listening to my doctors,” Netanyahu said in a video message.
Netanyahu was unexpectedly hospitalized last weekend. At the time, it was said that he had been in the sun for too long without water and a hat. A heart monitor that was subsequently attached had now beeped; immediate surgery is needed, Netanyahu said. According to him, he should be released from the hospital in the afternoon and be present for the vote in Parliament.
According to his office, Netanyahu is under anesthesia during the insertion of the pacemaker. During this time, the Minister of Justice and Deputy Prime Minister Yariv Levin will take over the government.
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