Jerusalem, February 20. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today accused protesters in the mass protests against judicial reform of ‘trampling on democracy’, as tens of thousands of people gather around parliament ahead of the start of the vote on the plan promoted by his government.
“In a democracy, the people vote in elections and their representatives vote here in the Knesset (Parliament)”, declared the head of the executive, who assured that “the leaders of the challenge trample democracy” by their actions and “bullying”.
He also accused them of “not accepting the election results” or “the decision of the majority”, and denounced that they “call for civil unrest”, “a fratricidal war” and shed “blood in the streets”.
This comes as at least 40,000 people – as many as 100,000 according to the Haaretz newspaper – are demonstrating around Israel’s parliament in Jerusalem today to oppose the judicial reform the Netanyahu government wants to carry out, which would undermine to the independence of the judiciary and created a huge protest movement.
Protesters – from across the country – surrounded the parliamentary compound waving Israeli flags, to the beat of drums and chants, and between banners reading “Fight for democracy” or “Save Israel from dictatorship “.
“We came to tell the government to look around us. They say their reform, which is actually a big step against democracy, is what the people want, but hundreds of thousands of people have been protesting against it every week,” Rosenberg Rubins, a professor of right 40. .years he attended the protest.
The House plans to vote today, in the first of three instances, on two of the bills included in the reform that would constitute the first part of this controversial project.
The two proposed standards – which will still be up for a vote at two subsequent readings on other dates to be approved – seek to change the composition of the judicial selection committee and would reduce the Supreme Court’s ability to review and change the laws.
The judicial reform also includes the so-called “nullification clause”, which would allow a simple majority of MPs in parliament to overturn decisions made by the Supreme Court.
All of this, critics say, would largely entail limiting the powers of the judiciary, eroding the separation of powers and undermining the formal foundations of Israeli democracy.
Faced with the situation, which has further polarized Israeli society, the country’s President, Isaac Herzog, as well as the current opposition leader, Yair Lapid, have called for the opening of a process of dialogue and the seeking ways to reach consensus on reform, although so far there has been little progress in this regard.
“The government is putting two laws to a vote to nullify democracy,” Lapid lamented today, adding that Netanyahu’s executive – also made up of ultra-Orthodox and far-right partners – has shown a “total rejection” of the negotiation requests.
Government coalition officials responsible for promoting the plan say they favor dialogue, though they insist they want to see the reform through despite opposition on the streets.
The protests began nearly two months ago and have spread across the country. Today, they notably blocked streets and highways in the areas of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.