ISLAMABAD/JERUSALEM: Scores of Israelis took to the streets in protest ahead of government plans for a radical overhaul of the judicial system.
A record number of protesters came out in cities such as Haifa and Tel Aviv. The protesters said that the judicial reforms would undermine democracy.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said planned changes were better for the electorate.
Protest organisers said that around 500,000 pro-democracy protesters took to the streets across the country on Saturday, which the Israeli newspaper Haaretz called ‘the largest demonstration in the country’s history’.
Main opposition leader Yair Lapid told protesters in the southern city of Be’er Sheva that the country was facing “the greatest crisis in its history”.
He said that a wave of terrorism was hitting the country and the economy was crashing, money was escaping the country. He said that Iran just signed a new agreement with Saudi Arabia, but the government only cared about crushing Israeli democracy.
Not judicial reforms but dictatorship
Tamir Guytsabry, a Tel Aviv protester, told Reuters it was not a judicial reform. It was a revolution that was making Israel go to full dictatorship and he wants Israel to stay a democracy for his children.
The judicial reforms aim to give the government crucial influence over the choice of judges and limit the ability of the Supreme Court to rule against the executive or strike down legislation.
The proposed reforms have caused a deep fissure in Israeli society and, significantly, have seen reservists – the backbone of Israel’s military – threatening to refuse to work in their opposition to the reforms.
On Monday, in an unprecedented move, scores of reserve fighter pilots in an elite Israeli Air Force squadron said that they would not report for training. They later reversed course and concorred to attend and hold talks with their commanders.
On Thursday, protesters blocked roads and attempted to stop PM Netanyahu from flying out of the country. He later took off for Rome. The Netanyahu government has stood firm in the face of the protest, claiming the protests were being fuelled by political opponents.
Critics said that the judicial planned reforms, which were already making their way through parliament, would politicise the judiciary and could lead to an authoritarian government.
However, Netanyahu claims the reforms were designed to stop the courts from overreaching their powers and that the Israeli public voted for them at the last election.
