Tens of thousands of Israelis protest against Netanyahu’s justice plans

Tens of thousands of Israelis joined Saturday’s demonstrations against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government’s judicial reform plans, which protesters say threaten ministerial democratic checks and balances by the courts.

The plans, which the government says are necessary to crack down on abuses by activist judges, have sparked fierce opposition from groups, including lawyers, and raised business leaders’ concernswidening the already deep political divisions in Israeli society.

“They want to turn us into a dictatorship, they want to destroy democracy,” said the head of the Israeli Bar Association, Avi Chimi. “They want to destroy the judiciary, without the judiciary there is no democratic country.”

Netanyahu has dismissed the protests, now in its third week, as a refusal by left-wing opponents to recognize the results of the November election that resulted in one of the most right-wing governments in Israeli history.

Protesters say the future of Israeli democracy is at stake if the government succeeds in pushing through planswhich would increase political control over the appointment of judges and limit the power of the Supreme Court to overturn government decisions or Knesset laws.

As well as threat to judicial independence and loosening oversight of government and parliament, they say, the plans will undermine the rights of minorities and open the door to more corruption.

“We are fighting for democracy,” Amnon Miller, 64, said among a crowd of protesters, many of whom are flying blue and white Israeli flags. “We have fought in this country in the army for 30 years for our freedom, and we will not let this government take away our freedom.”

Saturday’s protests, which Israeli media reported were supposed to draw more than 100,000 people to downtown Tel Aviv, came days after the Supreme Court ordered Netanyahu to fire Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, who heads the religious Shas party, over with a recent tax conviction.

The new government that came to power this month is an alliance between Netanyahu’s Likud party and smaller religious and far-right nationalist parties that say they have a mandate for radical change.

Netanyahu, who is himself on trial on corruption charges he denies, defended plans for judicial reformwhich are currently being considered by a parliamentary committee, saying they will restore a proper balance between the three branches of government.

The protesters say the future of Israeli democracy is at stake if the government succeeds in realizing its plans. REUTERS

A man holds an American flag during protests in Israel. REUTERS

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The protesters say the future of Israeli democracy is at stake if the government succeeds in realizing its plans. REUTERS

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Likud politicians have long accused the Supreme Court of being dominated by left-wing judges who they say intrude into areas outside their jurisdiction for political reasons. Defenders of the court say it plays a vital role in holding the government to account in a country without a formal constitution.

A poll released by the Israel Democracy Institute last week showed that trust in the Supreme Court was notably higher among Israelis on the left than among those on the right, but there was generally no support for weakening the court’s powers.

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