Despite the calls for dialogue, the majority of Mr. Netanyahu voted the texts bridling the power of the Supreme Court.
by Louis Imbert (Jerusalem, correspondent)
An Israeli protester with a megaphone was perched in the small wood which dominates the seat of Parliament, at the top of a hill in Jerusalem-Ouest, Monday, February 20 in the early afternoon. He chimes the names of the parliamentarians of the power coalition, punctuating each mention of a scathing or funny refrain: “Shame on you!” His voice bounces on the facade of the Knesset and even in the hall, where the deputies come and go and come .
They examine, at first reading, the first part of the reform aimed at restraining the powers of the Supreme Court, wanted by the Prime Minister, Benyamin Netanyahu, and his conservative allies, of the far right and religious. Its coalition has been minimizing the alarm cries for eight weeks of the highest officials and business circles, such as the unprecedented scale of demonstrations carried out with “no to the change of diet!” And “No to dictatorship!”. Monday, tens of thousands of people have mobilized, leading a slow hike on the boulevards around the Knesset, almost ending up surrounding it, before small groups disperse in town, to the residence of the first Minister.
The majority also ignored the call of President Isaac Herzog to freeze this process to initiate a dialogue. Then that of the American ambassador, Thomas Nides, who publicly asked Mr. Netanyahu, during the weekend: “As I tell my children, shoots the brake, slowed down, try to find a consensus.” Dry response of the Israeli Diaspora Minister, Amichai Chikli: “Take care of your business.”
The boss of Shin Bet himself, Ronen Bar, advised parliamentarians on Monday to appease their speech, believing that the stability of the country was threatened. Early in the day, some activists held a stake in front of the home of two elected officials. The latter claim that they tried to prevent them from going to vote. The opposition deplored these supposed abuses.
“Shame on”
Shortly after 4 p.m., Benyamin Netanyahu appeared at the Knesset. In front of the channel 14 camera, acquired in his cause, he denounces these demonstrators “who trample democracy” and “refuse the result of the elections”. A young demonstrator interrupts him. “Shame on you, you should not be at the Knesset. Do not laugh! You destroy democracy.” It is evacuated by the order service.
In the hemicycle, the Messianic Minister and Homophobic Avi Maoz, in charge of extra -curricular education programs, poses by guaranteeing the declaration of independence of 1948, and warns against the “fratricidal war” where the opposition leads to the country according to him. His Jewish supremacist colleague, the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, denounces “the anarchists” near the demonstration.
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