The proposals of the coalition, the most right of the history of the country, would considerably limit the capacity of the Supreme Court to invalidate laws and decisions of the government.
MO12345lemonde with AFP
Tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated on Saturday February 11 in Tel Aviv and other cities of the country, for the sixth consecutive week, against the judicial reform led by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The compact crowd brandished a tide of blue and white Israeli flags, dotted with rainbow flags from the LGBT + and Palestinian community. A first reading of some of the controversial provisions of the reform, aimed at increasing the power of elected officials on that of magistrates, is scheduled for Knesset on Monday, the Israeli Parliament. The leaders of the movement called for a strike on the same day.
Screwing the forecasts according to which the announcement of this strike would divert part of the demonstrators of the gatherings that have become usual on Saturday evening, the Israelis demonstrated more numerous than the previous weeks, a journalist from the France-Presse agency noted. For the first time since the start of the movement in January, several dozen demonstrators gathered in Efrat, an Israeli colony of occupied West Bank.
trial for corruption
The Israeli media reported around 50,000 demonstrators in Tel Aviv, up to 75,000 according to the daily Haaretz (left), around 10,000 in Haifa and 4,000 in Jerusalem, before the residence of Mr. Netanyahu. In Tel Aviv, a minute of silence was observed in memory of the victims of the Friday attack in East Jerusalem, in which three Israelis, two of whom died.
“The Netanyahu trial is the reason for everything. He tries by all means to weaken the judiciary to escape his trial,” said Neta Keren-Tal, a mother working in the medical field, in Allusion to the Prime Minister in the process of corruption in several cases.
The government set up at the end of December 2022 by Mr. Netanyahu, who backed Likoud (right) to religious and extreme right allies, is considered one of the most right in the history of Israel. The proposals of the coalition would considerably limit the capacity of the Supreme Court to invalidate government laws and decisions. A clause would allow the Knesset to legislate again on invalidated laws with a simple majority of 61 votes. The reform also plans to modify the system of appointment of judges by giving more weight to political power.