As Netanyahu honors July 4, protesters accuse him of threatening Israeli democracy
Demonstration outside US Independence Day event in Jerusalem seeks to highlight dissonance between American democratic principles and the coalition’s judicial overhaul
Several hundred protesters turned out to demonstrate against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attendance at an event Monday night at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem celebrating the Independence Day of the United States
The demonstrators denounced Netanyahu for attending the early July 4 celebration while his government is unilaterally advancing elements of its judicial overhaul program, which they fear will undermine Israel’s liberal democratic character.
Many protesters wore blue t-shirts bearing the words “Protecting our shared home.” They beat drums, blew whistles, held aloft banners, and waved Israeli flags. Across the street, a small group of counter-protesters chanted, “We don’t want a Supreme Court dictatorship.”
The initial overhaul package would have given the government almost complete control over judicial appointments, and would also have almost completely removed the High Court of Justice’s power of judicial review over legislation, appointments and policy.
Although those measures have been suspended for the moment, the government is currently unilaterally advancing legislation that would limit the ability of the courts to use the judicial tool of reasonableness when reviewing government and ministerial decisions.
Leading government officials claim the doctrine gives the courts too broad a scope for judicial intervention, while anti-government protestors argue that it is an important tool for protecting some civil rights, and that removing it is the first step toward implementing the broader overhaul package.
Among the anti-overhaul protesters, the common sentiment was a fear for democracy and frustration at what one demonstrator said would be the “canceling” of the Supreme Court.
“Once they cancel this, they can do anything they like,” said Claud, an immigrant from France.
“We want to appeal to the American people since it’s their Fourth of July,” she continued, adding that she believed “it is difficult for them to understand how bad it is here,” in reference to the recent political instability.
Netanyahu “is celebrating their independence day while he’s transforming us into a dictatorship” scoffed Michal, who said she has recently spent much of her time protesting against the judicial overhaul in Tel Aviv.
Like Claud, Michal said that the United States had a responsibility to get involved in this controversy, declaring, “We trust America and the president of America to help us.”
She was not the only protester who asserted that the judicial overhaul package would turn Israel into a dictatorship, with many expressing the belief that their basic human rights were at stake.
Rotem, who was waving an LGBTQ+ flag, said she felt the overhaul would directly affect many key sociopolitical issues important to her, saying, “We want to protect our country’s democracy because our rights are going to be taken from us.”
She argued that the overhaul would “destroy basic rights” for everyone, and that “it doesn’t matter if I’m Jewish or Arab or a woman or a man.”
Over at the counter-protest, Isac dismissed the claims of the anti-government demonstrators, and said he had come to show backing for the right-wing coalition and let its members know that “you have support for what you are doing.”
He said he believed the overhaul would strengthen democracy and that its opponents “don’t want us to elect our government.”
Rejecting sentiment on the left fearing the abolition of democracy, Isac maintained that “this is the way to turn Israel into a democracy; to let us, the voters, elect the judicial branch in Israel just as we elect the executive and the legislature.”
