Israel: March against the Netanyahu government in Tel Aviv

Anger is growing in Israel. Several thousand Israelis demonstrated Saturday night in Tel Aviv against the new government of Benjamin Netanyahu, the most right-wing in the history of the country. “Get out”, “Together against fascism and apartheid”, “Democracy in danger” read the posters waved by demonstrators who took to the streets of the city center.

The winner of the November 1 parliamentary elections, Benjamin Netanyahu, accused of corruption, on December 29 led a government formed from far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties, some of whose senators were appointed to key posts.

“I came here today with thousands of people. This is the first time, but (the movement) will continue because we have a problem, extremists are deploying their forces when they do not represent the majority of the population,” said Omer, a protester who works in Tel Aviv in the high-tech industry. sector.

The new ministerial team has already announced its intentions to, among other things, continue colonization in the Palestinian territories, implement reforms of concern to the LGBT community in particular, and its intentions to reform the judiciary.

“We don’t want our democracy to disappear”

The controversial reform, presented to the press on Wednesday, would introduce a so-called “fallback clause” that would allow parliament to overrule a Supreme Court decision by a simple majority vote. “We don’t want our democracy to disappear and the Supreme Court to be destroyed. We want the government to be in control,” Assaf’s lawyer, who declined to give his last name, told AFP.

In addition to Israeli flags or rainbow colors, protesters in Tel Aviv also carried out T-shirts and banners with a crossed-out reference to “Minister of Crime” (“Minister of Crime”), in reference to Benjamin’s indictment. Netanyahu for corruption in a number of cases.

This slogan was widely used during the anti-Netanyahu protest movement, when from 2020 and for several months, Israelis gathered every week on Saturday nights to demand the departure of someone who was already in power from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. . The Likud leader (right) was ousted from power in June 2021 by a motley coalition formed to overthrow him, but vowed to return to business.