Global Courant
Tens of thousands of Israelis have entered Jerusalem and more protesters have taken to the streets of Tel Aviv in a last-ditch show of force aimed at blocking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial judicial overhaul plan.
Saturday’s protests came as more than 100 former Israeli security chiefs signed a letter imploring Netanyahu to halt the legislation and thousands of additional military reservists saying they would no longer volunteer to protest the plan.
Israel’s parliament, or Knesset, will hold a final vote on Sunday and Monday on the bill that would limit the Supreme Court’s powers to overturn what it considers “unreasonable” government or ministerial decisions.
Critics see the legislation as a threat to Israeli democracy.
In Jerusalem, protesters turned the city’s main entrance into a sea of blue and white Israeli flags on Saturday as they completed the final leg of a four-day, 70 km (45 mi) trek from Tel Aviv to the Israeli parliament.
The group, which grew from hundreds to thousands as the march progressed, was welcomed by crowds of cheering protesters before encamping in rows of small white tents outside the Knesset for the expected vote.
“Democracy is not as secure as it used to be,” said Ido Golan, a protester from central Israel who joined his partner and two young children, one on his back in a baby carrier.
“It is very important for us and also for them to know that we did what we could to save democracy.”
Thousands of people marching from Tel Aviv to the Israeli parliament set up camp outside the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in Jerusalem, Saturday, July 22, 2023 (Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands flooded the streets of the coastal city of Tel Aviv, the country’s business and cultural capital, as well as in Beersheba, Haifa and Netanya.
“Democracy or Revolution! Respect existence or expect resistance!” protesters chanted, many wearing shirts with “Democracy” printed on them.
“The government is not listening to us, it means this is the beginning of a new era, a bad era,” protester Idit Dekel, 55, told AFP news agency. “For me it’s disastrous. It’s the beginning of something we’ve never experienced before,” he added.
Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Jamjoom, reporting from Tel Aviv, described Saturday’s protest in the city as “massive” and said demonstrations were also taking place in 12 other locations.
“Now Netanyahu says he is determined to go ahead with these plans and once this bill is passed, he will step back and try to find a compromise with opposition parties. But that’s not good enough for the thousands and thousands of people across Israel today who say this is a real threat to democracy,” Jamjoom said.
‘Fatal blows’
Netanyahu and his far-right allies argue the overhaul is necessary to curb what they believe is excessive powers of unelected judges. But their critics say the plan will destroy the country’s system of checks and balances and set it on the path to authoritarian rule.
Joe Biden, the president of the United States, has also urged Netanyahu to drop the plan and seek broad consensus.
An aerial photo shows the crowd attending a protest in Tel Aviv on July 22, 2023, ahead of the review of the Israeli government’s bill ahead of a vote in parliament (Jack Guez/AFP)
The proposed overhaul has drawn harsh criticism from business and medical leaders alike, and a rapidly growing number of military reservists in key units have said they will stop reporting if the plan passes.
Another 10,000 reservists announced Saturday night that they were suspending their service, according to Brothers in Arms, a protest group representing retired soldiers.
More than 100 former top security chiefs, including retired military commanders, police commissioners and intelligence chiefs, joined those calls on Saturday, signing a letter to Netanyahu blaming him for compromising the Israeli military and urging him to halt the legislation.
Signatories included Ehud Barak, a former Israeli prime minister, and Moshe Yaalon, a former army chief and defense minister. Both are Netanyahu’s political rivals.
“The legislation crushes the things Israeli society shares, tears the people apart, disintegrates the IDF and deals fatal blows to Israel’s security,” the former officials wrote.
“The legislative process violates the social contract that has existed for 75 years between the Israeli government and thousands of reserve officers and soldiers from the land, air, naval and intelligence divisions who have volunteered for years for the reserves to defend the democratic state of Israel, and now with a broken heart announce that they are suspending their volunteer work,” the letter said.
Israel Katz, a senior cabinet minister from Netanyahu’s Likud party, said the bill will pass one way or another on Monday.
“I represent citizens who are not ready to have their vote canceled because of threats of refusal to serve” or by those blocking the airport, highways and train stations, he told Channel 12 TV. “There is a clear attempt here to use military service to force the government to change policy.”
The final vote, scheduled for Monday, would be the first major piece of legislation to pass.
In addition to removing the “reasonableness” clause, the overhaul also calls for other sweeping changes aimed at curtailing the powers of the judiciary, from limiting the Supreme Court’s ability to challenge parliamentary decisions to changing the way judges are selected.
Protesters, who make up much of Israeli society, see the overhaul as a power grab fueled by various personal and political grievances from Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, and his associates, who want to deepen Israel’s control over the occupied West Bank and perpetuate controversial draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men.
Despite seven months of protests, Netanyahu doubled down on revision early on Sunday when he released a video announcing he would be hospitalized for a procedure to get a pacemaker.
The 73-year-old leader said he expected to be released from hospital on Sunday afternoon and go to the Knesset for a vote on the judicial bill.
He suggested last-minute changes were possible, saying he was “still trying to get an agreement with the opposition” on the “reasonableness” clause.
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