Palestinians face violence as Israel begins judicial reform talks

Protests in Israel against judicial reforms planned by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government have put security personnel under pressure as Palestinians are attacked by extremists.

Palestinian citizens of Israel were beaten during pro-government demonstrations in Jerusalem yesterday.

“The chaos created by the internal turmoil is stretching Israeli security and diverting attention of Israeli civilian and security leaders,” Washington Institute senior fellow Ghaith Al Omari, who has held positions in the Palestinian Authority,

told The National. “This creates an opening for Palestinian and Israeli extremists, who could use the instability to conduct violence in the West Bank and Jerusalem.”

About 700,000 demonstrators took to the streets after Mr Netanyahu sacked defence minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday for opposing judicial reforms.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog last night summoned the government and opposition to begin talks on the reforms.

In the melee, Palestinians were assaulted. A taxi driver said his car was stopped by a group of right-wing Israelis.

He suspects the incident was planned. “One approached and the window was open,” he told Radio Kan.

“He asked me: ‘Are you an Arab? In panic, I called the police. They began to smash the car. If I hadn’t escaped, I’d be dead.”

He said he fled to a police station, pursued all the way by men on bicycles and on foot.

“It is very unpleasant, very scary,” he said.

He has struggled to sleep since the incident.

In some cases, extremists are looking for an excuse for violence, said Adam Shinar, an associate professor in constitutional law at Reichman University in Herzliya.

“What has this Palestinian cab driver got to do with legal reforms? For some, a small group in the right-wing camp, the most radical, they’re kind of racist anyway,” he said.

“So, for them, this is often an excuse to engage in violence, and when it comes from these racist sentiments, it doesn’t have to make sense.”

Tensions are usually high during Ramadan, especially this year because the holy month coincides with the Jewish holiday of Passover.

Groups including the Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association (Addameer) said Israel’s government made a difficult situation for jailed Palestinians worse. Coalition proposals include the reintroduction of the death penalty for people defined as “terrorists”.

“This bill increases the likelihood that the death penalty will be implemented and is formulated to solely apply to crimes committed by Palestinians,” a report by the group said.

Last month, the Knesset passed a bill that enables the government to strip Palestinians of Israeli citizenship without court approval, contrary to international law.

“Even if the government stops the judicial reforms, the attacks on prisoners will continue,” Addameer general director Sahar Francis told