Hundreds of thousands rally against judicial overhaul plans for a 15th straight week
Protest organizers vow to push on until legislation shelved; smaller pro-overhaul rallies take place in 12 locations, with police minister Ben Gvir at Netanya counter-demonstration
Hundreds of thousands of people rallied once more Saturday against the coalition’s judicial overhaul plans, a day after leading ratings agency Moody’s downgraded Israel’s economic outlook from positive to stable amid the coalition’s highly controversial proposals to shackle the judiciary.
Protesters have been gathering for over three months against the hardline coalition’s plans for radical changes to the judicial system, including bringing most judicial appointments under government control, and severely curbing the oversight powers of the High Court of Justice.
Though the legislation has been paused to allow for negotiations with the opposition, multiple members of the coalition have indicated it could be picked up again within weeks if talks fail.
Anti-overhaul demonstrations were held at 150 locations across the country, with some 150,000 assessed to take part in the main Tel Aviv rally and tens of thousands elsewhere. Protest organizers asserted that 400,000 took part across the country, though that figure could not be verified. They vowed to “continue protesting in the hundreds of thousands until the judicial coup is completely shelved.”
Meanwhile, the right-wing Im Tirtzu organization held counter-protests in support of the overhaul at 12 locations across the country, but these did not appear to draw large crowds.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir attended one such rally in the coastal city of Netanya.
“We are for a reform! For IDF soldiers! For the State of Israel!” he told those gathered.
בן גביר נואם בנתניה
קרדיט המוקד pic.twitter.com/wSTepruQuq— לירי בורק שביט (@lirishavit) April 15, 2023
Channel 13 reported a crowd of 150 counter-protesters attended the pro-judicial reform rally in Netanya, against a crowd of 24,000 against the legislation, citing the CrowdSolutions firm.
Police boosted their presence in the coastal city, anticipating potential scuffles between the two rival demonstrations.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid railed at Ben Gvir’s presence at the demonstration in his address to anti-overhaul protesters in the coastal city.
“Show me a place in the world where the government demonstrates against its own people. In what democratic country in the world, aside from Israel, can Itamar Ben Gvir be a minister?” Lapid asked the crowd. “You know why he is here? Because he is afraid of you.”
In Tel Aviv, police anticipated that protesters would try to block the Ayalon Highway after the demonstration, and stopped the flow of traffic at their own initiative. Dozens of protesters did indeed descend on the highway on two separate occasions but were dispersed by mounted cops and a water cannon. Seven protesters were arrested, including a man who started a fire in the middle of the road.
איילון עכשיו pic.twitter.com/SweOPXDPGI
— Asslan Khalil (@KhalilAsslan) April 15, 2023
Ahead of the demonstrations, protest organizers said in a statement that any change to the nation’s judicial selection panel, as desired by the government, “will begin a process that will turn the State of Israel into a messianic dictatorship.”
“The millions that have participated in demonstrations until today will oppose the destruction of the State of Israel and the values of the Declaration of Independence. We call on opposition heads not to allow time to be stretched and announce a target date for a broad agreement by Independence Day,” organizers said.
“Foot-dragging will bring destruction to the economy, army, and rifts in the nation,” the statement read.
In Netanya, Lapid warned protesters that the government was at the “peak of its journey of destruction” of the country’s economy and democracy.
“Bad and anti-democratic governments don’t stop by themselves. They only stop if enough good, positive, and patriotic citizens wrap themselves in the flag and come out,” he said.
נתניה אמרה לא לדיקטטורה! שום שר פיתות או ליצן טיקטוק יצליח לשנות את זה. pic.twitter.com/Fmy3fkd7wZ
— קומי ישראל ????????????️???????? (@kumiiisrael) April 15, 2023
Firebrand Likud MK Tally Gotliv told counter-protesters that “the left has lost it, the left betrayed the State of Israel.”
“The left has forgotten the most basic values of the nation of Israel, and of a Jewish and democratic state,” she said.
יכולה לעזור לדיסטל בהסברה, לא? או לסמוטריץ. pic.twitter.com/YE96a3uF3Y
— Ben Caspit בן כספית (@BenCaspit) April 15, 2023
Gotliv was also filmed speaking with a man, apparently an international reporter, and arguing to him in broken English that former US president Barack Obama has paid for anti-Netanyahu advertising on Israel’s Walla news site.
ח״כ טלי גוטליב הערב בנתניה: ״השמאל בגד במדינת ישראל״.
אנו קוראים למשטרת ישראל לפתוח בחקירה כנגד הסתה והתרת דמינו. pic.twitter.com/dJKrUO0Hdg
— קומי ישראל ????????????️???????? (@kumiiisrael) April 15, 2023
In Tel Aviv, Dan Halutz, a former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, urged opposition heads to back out of negotiations with the government for a compromise legislative package.
The ex-military chief slammed Netanyahu, saying his press conference earlier in the week was a “disgrace.”
In that speech, the prime minister blamed the opposition and the previous government for recent security problems that have included rocket fire from Lebanon, Syria, and the Gaza Strip, and a series of deadly Palestinian terrorist attacks.
“Behind the podium stood a stressed, unfocused man. He didn’t manage to speak one word of truth, aside from, ‘citizens of Israel’ — and even on that, we need to check what he means,” Halutz said.
“You asked that we believe in your promises… You promised to crush Hamas. Did you fulfill it? Of course not. You promised to lower the cost of living. Did it happen? No. You promised to solve the housing crisis. No. You promised to lower mortgage interest rates, did you do it? Nothing happened, because there is no connection between what you say and what you do,” he stated.
Earlier in the city, a group protested Ben Gvir’s plan for a national guard, play-acting as the proposed force for the third straight week. Critics have claimed the force could amount to the minister’s private militia.
A handful of supporters of the government’s plans held a counter-protest as thousands demonstrated against the proposals outside the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.
The government supporters shouted at the anti-overhaul demonstrators: “Bolsheviks, go back to where you came from.”
At the rally against the judicial overhaul, the crowd shouted “shame,” as speakers railed against Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Constitution Committee head MK Simcha Rothman — who have led the overhaul push — and Ben Gvir.
In the southern city of Eilat, a 24-year-old man was detained for questioning after allegedly throwing a drink at anti-overhaul protesters.
Protest organizers have continued to express heavy skepticism toward the negotiations between the Yesh Atid and National Unity parties on one side and the ruling coalition on the other, under the auspices of President Isaac Herzog. They allege the talks are a ruse to quell the protest movement and advance the legislation quietly.
Opponents worry that the judicial appointments bill, which had advanced to its last two Knesset votes before the freeze was announced, could go before the Knesset plenum for final approval at a moment’s notice once the Knesset returns from its Passover recess at the end of the month.
They say it will drastically weaken Israel’s democratic character, remove a key element of its checks and balances and leave minorities unprotected. Proponents of the government’s overhaul plans say reforms are needed to rein in politically motivated judicial activism.
