Tel Aviv mayor: ‘Dictatorships only become democratic again with bloodshed’

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai says that if Israel turns into a dictatorship, it will only become a democracy again after blood is shed.

“States can turn from a democracy into a dictatorship, as is happening here. Dictatorships only become democratic again with bloodshed. That is the history of the world,” Huldai tells Channel 13 news.

“[Politicians] are not interested in the president’s plea. I am appealing to all serious people who know the State of Israel — you have to understand that there is no right or left here; there are bad guys versus good guys,” Huldai says, referring to President Isaac Herzog’s call for compromise a day earlier.

Huldai is one of tens of thousands of protesters who have gathered at the Knesset in Jerusalem to protest against the government’s judicial overhaul.

The proposed changes will impose sweeping changes on the legal and judicial systems, almost entirely eradicate the High Court of Justice’s power of judicial review, and give the government an automatic majority on the Judicial Selection Committee.