Yuval Noah Harari calls on civil servants and military to obey courts, not government

Yuval Noah Harari speaks at a protest against the Israeli government's planned judicial overhaul, in Tel Aviv, March 4, 2023. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
Yuval Noah Harari speaks at a protest against the Israeli government's planned judicial overhaul, in Tel Aviv, March 4, 2023. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)

Speaking at the main rally against the judicial overhaul in Tel Aviv, Historian Yuval Noah Harari says civil servants and military forces must obey the courts and not the government, should Israel end up in a constitutional crisis.

Addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Harari says: “We know you are responsible for all that is happening. You are not an emissary. You are definitely not an angel. After 2,000 years, we still remember pharaoh. And we will remember you. There’ll be no streets, squares or airports named after you. But we will tell the story of the man who tried to enslave us and failed.”

“You are surrounded by people with no backbone. But we have backbones…We will not be slaves. Next year we will be free people,” he adds.

Speaking at the same rally, Shikma Bressler, a world-renowned physicist and protest leader says the government’s plan to take control of the committee to choose judges, “is the first domino on the path to dictatorship.”

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