Pro-Democracy demonstration in Jerusalem February 2023 – Photo Hi tech protestors – Twitter
Israelis are again taking to the streets to protest the Plans of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to drastically alter the very nature of Israel’s judicial system. Last week, thousands blocked the entrances to Ben-Gurion International Airport and some even staged a sit-down protest in the arrivals terminal. And Saturday masses of opponents of Netanyahu’s government once again blocked highways, including the central Tel Aviv artery the Ayalon Highway, to traffic for hours.
Needless to say, right-wing cabinet ministers in Netanyahu’s government are not pleased with this and charge that the blocking of roads is beyond the bounds of legitimate political dissent and protest.
Israel’s Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir tweeted, “Freedom of speech does not protect the freedom to prevent a woman from giving birth to the hospital,” alleging that they blocked ambulances. “It does not protect the freedom to prevent the fire department from arriving at the scene of a fire; the freedom of demonstration does not protect the freedom to arrest the state and endanger the safety of the citizens.”
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Leader of the opposition in the Knesset Yair Lapid took the opposite position on the protests and issued an open letter to the national police commissioner asking him not to cave to political pressures to take a stronger stance against the demonstrations.
“This is the most wonderful protest in the history of the country, the good people, the reservists and the tax payers,” said Lapid. “First class people. They are not lawbreakers, they are not violent. They are the face of Israeli society.”
Meanwhile, at Israel’s weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday right-wing minister continued with their attacks against the country’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. After months of calling for her to reign they are now attacking her for not supporting their desire to use harsher tactics to break up the demonstrations. They are also now demanding that she show written justification as to what law gives her the authority to tell the government not to use stronger method to break up demonstrations.
Yair Lapid condemned this saying, “The ministers’ ugly attack on Gali Baharav-Miara, a decent gatekeeper who is just doing her job, is a demonstration of what they are trying to do to Israeli society: bullying instead of the rule of law, government violence against citizens and officials, the forceful elimination of our democracy.”
Massive protests have rocked Israel since January when Justice Minister Yariv Levin revealed the government’s plans to alter the nature of Israel’s judicial system. The government’s judicial reform plan would greatly curtail the power of Israel’s Supreme Court to nullify legislation passed by the Knesset and also limit the authority of Israel’s attorney general. The opposition charges this would harm Israel’s democracy, eroding foreign confidence in the country and hurting its economy. And this is why the country is now on the brink of what some are describing as the biggest societal clash in Israel’s history.
