2023-07-23 18:33:00
Tens of thousands of Israelis joined Jerusalem in a historic march to protest the controversial law to be voted on Monday in the Knesset.
From our correspondent in Jerusalem, Danièle Kriegel Tens of thousands of Israelis marched to Jerusalem to protest against judicial reform. © MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP Published on 07/23/2023 at 6:33 p.m.
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Nothing worked. The Netanyahu government introduced the bill reducing the powers of the Supreme Court to the Knesset. The parliamentary debate began this Sunday morning at 10 a.m. sharp. The first to speak was Simcha Rothman. President of the law commission, this deputy of the messianic religious party “Religious Zionism” did not do so in moderation: “Thanks to this judicial overhaul plan, Israel will once again become a democracy”, he launched before attacking the pro-democracy demonstrators. “Protesters camped around the Knesset are bitter about losing power in the November 1 election, which is pushing them to take to the streets to oppose the people’s decision. »
Understand: “The people elected us and gave us all the legitimacy to go through with the judicial reform. An argument regularly held by the majority in power (64 deputies out of 120), whether in the Knesset or in the television and radio media. In the face of this, the parliamentary opposition has no real leeway, except to explain, as Orit Farkash-Hacohen (MP from the centrist party of Benny Gantz) did this morning: “The government’s radical right-wing policies have turned Israel – a high-tech nation – into an international leper. With tears in her eyes, she finally said, “I can’t believe what I’m seeing. I just can’t believe it. »
A popular march to Jerusalem
In fact, the real opposition to the Netanyahu government is now extra-parliamentary. It’s been 29 weeks that every Saturday evening – but also, at regular intervals, during the week, Tuesday or Thursday -, it gathers by the tens of thousands all over the country, in at least 150 localities. It is a question of proclaiming its indignation in the face of what this popular opposition calls “the will of the government to set up a religious and nationalist dictatorship”.
READ ALSOIsrael: a “national day of resistance” against judicial reformOn Saturday, a new peak was crossed. Some 85,000 walkers joined Jerusalem on foot in the blistering heat. A human river surmounted by a tide of Israeli flags. Young people, older people, women, children, entire families, the disabled. All entered the city to gather around the Knesset. Throughout the evening, they were joined by other pro-democracy protesters.
Below, in the large park of West Jerusalem, a village of tents was set up to welcome walkers from afar. It is located right in the heart of institutional Jerusalem – in a quadrilateral formed by the Presidency of the Council, the Knesset, the Foreign Ministry and the Supreme Court. A way of proclaiming: “Even if you want to ignore us, we are here and we are determined to do everything to oppose your evil laws. This Saturday evening, they were 550,000 throughout the country to demonstrate against the government, including 200,000 in Tel Aviv. And they are not slowing down. As these lines are written, pro-democracies are arriving in Jerusalem by the thousands in anticipation of new rallies.
The challenge reaches the institutions
Added to this are the 10,000 reservists, including more than 1,100 pilots, who threaten to no longer perform their voluntary reserve periods if the judicial overhaul is passed without a political consensus.
READ ALSOCrisis in Israel: with angry reservistsAlso to be quoted is the letter from fifteen former army, police and intelligence officials, Mossad and Shin Beth, in which the signatories “hold Binyamin Netanyahu directly responsible for the damage caused by the situation to the country’s security”. Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, begins the great demonstration of support for the government prepared by the Likud, the religious Zionists and the colonization movement. Their goal: to bring together one million participants.
Renowned columnist Nahum Barnea is not optimistic. He believes that “the chips are down”. “The demonstrations, he writes, will not have an influence on the vote but that is what citizens can do in a democracy… It remains to be hoped that this formidable democratic celebration does not end, crushed under the wheels of a car, with injuries or by a murder. So far, all attempts to reach a compromise have failed.
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