Tel Aviv: For the thirtieth week in a row, thousands of Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Wednesday, August 2, to protest Parliament’s approval of judicial reform pushed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Crowds of protesters waved the blue and white Israeli flags that have become a feature of protests since the judicial reform was unveiled in January.
Over 200,000 protesters turned out, making it one of the largest protests in Israel’s history.
Labor MP Gilad Kariv said the message of the protests was that “the vast majority of Israelis do not want this judicial coup,” noting that many Likud voters oppose it.
“Jews around the world need to understand that if they want to maintain the relations with Israel, if they want their children and grandchildren to have solid relations with Israel, they need to support these protests,” said Kariv.
“The most important thing for them to do is engage with us, the democratic Zionist bloc in Israel,” he added.
Israelis have protested weekly since January to denounce the reform plan and Netanyahu’s government.
On March 27, the Israeli Prime Minister declared the project to be “suspend” to give “a chance for dialogue,” but mobilization against reform remains strong.
For the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the most right-wing governments in Israel’s history, the reform of the judicial system aims in particular to rebalance the powers by strengthening the powers of Parliament at the expense of the Supreme Court, which it considers politicized.
On Monday, July 24, Israeli lawmakers passed a major bill that would eliminate the “standard of reasonableness,” eliminating the Supreme Court’s ability to block government decisions it deems unreasonable.
On Monday, July 31, Israeli Supreme Court announced that a full panel of 15 justices would hear petitions in September against the law.
