Thousands in Tel Aviv protest against new gov’t

Thousands of demonstrators came to Habima Square in Tel Aviv last night to protest against the policies of the new government and the changes it plans to make in Israel’s judicial system.

According to the organizers of the demonstration, “The new government has declared war on the public. The new government wants unchecked and unsupervised rule. The new government wants to set this place – and us – on fire.”

The demonstration took place following agreements between the parties making up Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition calling for changes in the law to allow discrimination in certain cases and Minister of Justice Yariv Levin’s announcement of the changes he intends to introduce into the legal system.

Under Levin’s plan, politicians will have a majority say in the selection of judges, the Knesset will be able to re-enact laws struck down by the High Court of Justice by a simple majority of 61 of its 120 members, unless the court’s decision was unanimous, and the High Court of Justice will not be able to intervene in government decisions on the grounds of unreasonableness.

The demonstrators marched from Habima Square to the Tel Aviv Museum Square, blocking main streets in the city, while another demonstration organized by the “Crime Minister” movement marched to Likud’s Tel Aviv headquarters. “The dangerous coup d’etat by Netanyahu and his criminal partners in the government will encounter civil resistance such as has never been seen before,” a statement by the movement said.

Among the speakers at Museum Square were the outgoing head of the Israel Bar Association Avi Himi, who described Levin’s proposed reforms as “the destruction of democracy, and a blow to human rights, to the independence of the court, and to you, Israel’s citizens.” MKs Ayman Odeh and Naama Lazimi were also among the speakers.

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on January 8, 2023.

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2023.