Anti-overhaul protesters target ministers’ homes as government seeks crackdown
Demonstrations outside residences of Gallant, Chikli, Silman and Levin held after the latter railed at top law enforcement officials over their handling of the rallies
Opponents of the government’s judicial overhaul rallied Friday outside the homes of several ministers, as demonstrators move to intensify protests against the coalition’s legislative efforts.
At Moshav Amikam in northern Israel, demonstrators gathered near the Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s home carrying Israeli flags and playing drums and vuvuzelas while chanting “democracy.”
Outside Social Equality Minister Amichai Chikli’s home in Kibbutz Hanaton, protesters donned costumes from “The Handmaid’s Tale” — which have become a fixture at the anti-overhaul demonstrations — to decry the level of female representation in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, a week after Israel fell 23 spots to 83rd in the World Economic Forum’s annual global gender gap report.
Of the 33 ministers currently in the cabinet, six are women.
Protesters also rallied outside the homes of Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman, who live in the central cities of Modiin and Rehovot, respectively.
Levin is a leading proponent of remaking the judicial system and has been a frequent target of protesters, six of whom were arrested Tuesday during a fiery demonstration outside his home. Silman was a member of the previous coalition before helping precipitate its collapse last year by defecting, prior to which she accused Netanyahu’s Likud party — which she now belongs to — of funding protests outside her house.
אנחנו אימצנו הבוקר את @AmichaiChikli בפעילות של נשות @BonotAlt ואנשי מחאת הגליל pic.twitter.com/pK8r3Ekth8
— Liat Dinman (@LadyDinman) June 30, 2023
The protests came a day after Levin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir hit out at top law enforcement officials during a meeting to discuss the rallies outside the homes of coalition lawmakers.
According to leaks from the meeting, Levin railed at Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and State Prosecutor Amit Aisman over these protests, after tearing into the former following the protest at his home for opposing his proposals to weaken the judiciary and shift some of its powers to elected officials.
“There is no law and no judge. Everyone will do as they see fit,” Levin was quoted saying at Thursday’s meeting.
Demonstrations against the effort to remake the judicial system have gathered renewed steam over the past week as Likud has renewed its legislative push.
On Tuesday, the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice convened for additional deliberations on a bill to block justices from exercising judicial review over the “reasonableness” of government decisions. Coalition figures have vowed to pass such legislation before the Knesset summer recess in a month. And Netanyahu has stated his government will also move later on to reshape the powerful Judicial Selection Committee, though he has added this will take a different shape than Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s previous plan to assert full political control over the process.
While protesters somewhat lowered the flames over the past few months while the judicial overhaul legislation was paused, organizers said that now that the government has begun moving ahead in the Knesset with certain elements of the plan, they will renew efforts.
Police are bracing for an escalation in demonstrations that are expected over the weekend and early next week, with protest organizers calling for a blockade of Ben Gurion Airport on Monday.
