200,000 people demonstrate in Jerusalem, calling for judicial reform

Supporters of the coalition government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gathered in front of the Israeli parliament, which has begun to gradually approve the judicial reform already in February. Some wore far-right party badges on their lapels. They are also in the coalition government on the side of the ultra-Orthodox. Many waved Israeli flags and chanted slogans in favor of government reform.

Netanyahu thanked his supporters on Twitter, “I am very moved by the tremendous support for the camp that came to Jerusalem tonight in such numbers.”

In one place a crowd of government supporters was passing by After the photos of the former presidents of the Supreme Court, as well as the current Attorney General, Ghali Bahrav-Mayara, according to whom, in addition, Netanyahu is in a conflict of interest in promoting judicial reform, in terms of influencing the appointment of judges, because he himself is being tried on corruption charges.

Bezalel Smotrich, head of the far-right Religious Zionist party, and Minister of Finance, among others, is taking part in today’s demonstration. “People are asking for justice reform and they will get it. And I want to say at this point that we are not going to give up,” Smotrich declared. “Most people agree that reforming the judicial system is the right thing for the State of Israel,” he added.

However, according to several recent surveys, the majority of respondents reject reform, the Times of Israel writes. It is criticized by large sectors of Israeli society and even hundreds of Israeli reservists have threatened not to join the service because of it. Many believe that reform threatens Israeli democracy, and some fear that judicial reform will follow other laws that will turn Israel into a “theocratic dictatorship.” Some also claim that Israel is now in its worst crisis since its creation in 1948.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has also repeatedly called on the government to stop approving reform and to negotiate a compromise with the opposition. A number of lawmakers from Netanyahu’s Likud party, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, have expressed similar views. At the end of March, he called for a halt to approval of the judicial reform, after which Netanyahu announced his appeal, but eventually withdrew. Then the Prime Minister announced that the approval of the reform was suspended until the next session of the House of Representatives, which is scheduled to start in a few days. Then the government discussed it with the opposition several times, but without a general result.