Netanyahu launches contentious overhaul as thousands protest
JERUSALEM — Tens of thousands of Israelis on Monday protested outside the parliament building in a show of force against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as his government formally launched its contentious plan to overhaul the country’s legal system.
The boisterous demonstration outside the Knesset, coupled with a stormy committee vote inside the building, appeared to deepen the divisions over Netanyahu’s program. The plan has triggered weeks of mass protests, prompted condemnations from wide swaths of Israeli society and drawn a statement of concern from President Joe Biden.
Netanyahu and his allies say the country’s unelected judges have too much power and need to be reined in. His opponents say that Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges, has a deep conflict of interest. They say his planned overhaul will destroy the country’s democratic checks and balances and is a poorly disguised plot to make his criminal case go away.
Monday’s demonstration was the largest to take place in the city in years. Thousands of people poured into Jerusalem from around the country on jam-packed trains, hoisting flags and chanting “democracy” as they exited the station.
“They hear us,” opposition leader Yair Lapid told the crowd as he pointed at the parliament. “They hear our strength and our commitment. They pretend they don’t hear. They pretend they’re not afraid. But they hear and they are afraid.”
Organizers claimed that more than 100,000 people joined Monday’s rally. They included Arab, women’s rights and LGBTQ activists as well as opposition parties. They were joined by groups of academics, army reservists, students, hightech employees, retirees and young families.
The crowd was noisy, blowing horns, chanting “democracy,” singing and whistling. But the event passed without incident and police said there were no arrests.
Many protesters carried the blue and white Israeli flag and posters decrying what they said was an attack on the country’s democratic institutions. “Shame! Shame!” and “Israel will not be a dictatorship,” they chanted.
“The people won’t have it,” said Boaz Zarki, a demonstrator in Jerusalem. “The separation of authority is critical to the existence of democracy.”
Other large demonstrations were held in cities around the country.
Despite a call by Israel’s figurehead president to freeze the legislation and begin a dialogue with the opposition, Netanyahu pressed ahead with his program.
As protesters were gathered outside, a parliamentary committee controlled by a Netanyahu ally passed the first pieces of legislation connected to the plan.
They include a proposal to give the Netanyahu-dominated legislature control over judicial appointments. Currently, judges are appointed by an independent committee that includes lawyers, politicians and judges.
A second proposal would take away the Supreme Court’s authority to review the legality over major pieces of legislation known as “Basic Laws.”
Still in the works is another proposal to give parliament the power to overturn Supreme Court decisions it does not like.