TEL AVIV, March 4 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Israeli cities for the ninth straight week on Saturday to fight a government plan to overhaul the country's court system.
Saturday night's demonstrations in Tel Aviv and other locations began peacefully. However, footage released by police later showed protesters breaking down barriers in Tel Aviv and igniting fires as they blocked roads. Police sprayed water cannons at the protesters.
"I came to demonstrate against the regime revolution, which the Israeli government forced upon us," 53-year-old history teacher Ronen Cohen told Reuters. "I hope that this huge demonstration will effect and prove that we are not going to give up."
The marches have attracted huge crowds on a weekly basis since early January, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government took aim at the Supreme Court.
[1/5] An aerial view shows Israelis demonstrating as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's nationalist coalition government presses on with its contentious judicial overhaul, in Tel Aviv, Israel March 4, 2023. REUTERS/Ilan Rosenberg 1 2 3 4 5
The protesters oppose legislation that Netanyahu and his right-wing and religious allies hope to pass that would limit the Supreme Court's powers to rule against the legislature and the executive, while giving lawmakers decisive powers in appointing judges.
Proponents say the Supreme Court needs to be reined in from overreaching into the political sphere. Critics say the plan will weaken the courts, endanger civil liberties and harm the economy along with ties with Western allies.
The intensity of the protests have been heightened since Wednesday, when Israeli police fired stun grenades and scuffles broke out in Tel Aviv during a nationwide "day of disruption" .
"There's a great danger that Israel will turn into a dictatorship," 68-year-old high school teacher Ophir Kubitsky said on Saturday. "We came here to demonstrate over and over again until we win."
Reporting by Emily Rose and Rami Amichay; Editing by David Holmes and Chizu Nomiyama
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
LongGrift on March 5th, 2023 at 18:39 UTC »
This judicial system overhaul has a few actors with very clear interests:
1) Netanyahu who is in the midst off his corruption trial and trying to avoid the impending sentence.
2) Aryeh Deri (head of shas party- ultra orthodox sephardic party)- he was already sentenced twice for corruption, last year he signed a plea bargain saying he will stay out of politics, then he tried becoming a minister in two government offices and was stopped by the supreme court. The government is currently trying to pass laws that will enable him to be part of the government again despite the supreme court ruling
3) The settlers (Ben Gvir and Smotrich) who would like to do as they see fit in the west bank without any supervision from anyone, they are fascists and fanatics and their sense of reality is utterly skewed. They are straight up racist and cruel, they are the worst of the worst.
4) The ultra-orthodox parties, the Haredim have a long standing issue with the supreme court, many Haredim are exempt from army service (unlike most secular citizens), previous governments have tried to exempt them even more easily, which the supreme court did not allow for clashing with the right to equality. In addition they would like to have the ability to implement religious rules and ideals in Israeli everyday life which is a clear threat to women, LGBTQ+ and non-jewish citizens.
All of these actors are a part of this most right-wing and out of control coalition Israel has ever seen, they do not actually get along or like each other, they don't even necessarily have a common goal, they are just taking the country hostage in the most cynical way possible for their personal or niche interests. We will not let this slide, they say we do not understand the "reform" and that we are panicked for no reason, we could not see their shame more clearly.
ITwerkForALiving on March 5th, 2023 at 15:33 UTC »
even the military is getting involved now.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/dozens-israeli-reserve-pilots-ditch-drill-protest-judicial-overhaul-2023-03-05/
Neo2199 on March 5th, 2023 at 14:54 UTC »
"Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Israeli cities for the ninth straight week on Saturday to fight a government plan to overhaul the country's court system.
Saturday night's demonstrations in Tel Aviv and other locations began peacefully. However, footage released by police later showed protesters breaking down barriers in Tel Aviv and igniting fires as they blocked roads. Police sprayed water cannons at the protesters.
"I came to demonstrate against the regime revolution, which the Israeli government forced upon us," 53-year-old history teacher Ronen Cohen told Reuters. "I hope that this huge demonstration will effect and prove that we are not going to give up."
The marches have attracted huge crowds on a weekly basis since early January, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government took aim at the Supreme Court.
The protesters oppose legislation that Netanyahu and his right-wing and religious allies hope to pass that would limit the Supreme Court's powers to rule against the legislature and the executive, while giving lawmakers decisive powers in appointing judges.
Proponents say the Supreme Court needs to be reined in from overreaching into the political sphere. Critics say the plan will weaken the courts, endanger civil liberties and harm the economy along with ties with Western allies."