At least 19 people were arrested and five were injured Monday in protests against Israel’s judicial reform outside the parliament in Jerusalem, where the government of Benjamin Netanyahu managed to pass a “key piece” of controversial legislation.
Today’s demonstrations gathered several thousand people in front of the Knesset (parliament) as the Netanyahu-led coalition government is moving forward with legislation that overturns the “reasonableness doctrine,” which until now allowed the Supreme Court to review and overturn government decisions based on whether they were reasonable or not.
The Israeli Parliament approved an essential part of the judicial reform proposed by the Netanyahu government, despite protests from various political and social sectors.
The vote took place after a convulsive session, in which the opposition deputies shouted “What a shame!”, before leaving the room, the government proposal being approved with 64 votes in favor and none against.
The reform determines radical changes that increase the powers of the Government in the judicial field, limiting the ability of the Supreme Court to challenge parliamentary decisions and modifying the way judges are selected.
Netanyahu and his government partners argue that changes are necessary and, from the beginning, have signaled that they would not change their position, despite strong social protests.
Removing the power of the Supreme Court has been seen as one of the pillars of reform that critics say will end the independence of the judiciary and undermine Israel’s formal democratic foundations.
Since early morning, the protesters – summoned by the broad protest movements that have become the most participatory in the country’s history – gathered in a camp in a nearby park, after trying to block the streets and block access to parliament.
There were some clashes with the police, who also used water cannons and mounted officers to disperse the protesters.
Protesters still tried to stage what they called a “fence” around the chamber to pressure the executive not to move forward with the controversial legislation, while opposition parties tried to reach a compromise with the government in last-minute talks, without success.
Police officers put up metal fences to protect the entrances to parliament and Netanyahu – who had just left hospital after being implanted with a ‘pacemaker’ – had to enter the chamber through a side door to avoid protesters.
Police arrested about 20 protesters “for violation of public order.”
Groups of protesters carried out actions of civil disobedience, such as sitting on the ground in the middle of the public road, while being dragged.
At the same time, five people were slightly injured and were taken to the hospital for medical care.
“The general idea of the police is to protect citizens, but here we see the opposite,” complained Tomer Naveh, 52, an army captain for more than 30 years, who was among the protesters today and strongly criticized the police repression.
Following the passing of the law and the suppression of the doctrine of reasonableness, the protest movements called for the continuation of the protests in front of the parliament in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and other parts of the country to oppose a judicial reform project that has further aggravated the division in Israeli society.
Source: TSF
