Issued on: 12/02/2023 – 07:46
Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the street in several cities across the country Saturday, protesting judicial overhaul plans by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Critics say measures introduced by the new hard-line government would weaken the Supreme Court, limit judicial oversight and grant more power to politicians. Protesters say that would undermine democracy.
The rift over the power of courts is deepening as the government is set to introduce some of the legislations in parliament Monday amid calls for partial strikes by businesses and professional groups.
For the sixth week,protestors pressed on with large rallies, with the main one in the central city of Tel Aviv and several smaller gatherings in other cities.
‘Supreme Court will be destroyed’
“My grandparents came to Israel to build here something amazing…We don’t want to feel that our democracy is disappearing, that the Supreme Court will be destroyed,” said a lawyer among one of the protests who gave his name only as Assaf.
“Extremists are starting to deploy their forces and it’s not the majority,” said protester Omer, a worker in Tel Aviv’s tech sector.
Israel’s new justice minister a reform programme including a “derogation clause” allowing parliament to override decisions of the Supreme Court.