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More than half a million Israelis took to the streets this Sunday to demonstrate after the dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who yesterday became the first member of the Government to publicly oppose the advance of the controversial judicial reform promoted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The demonstrations, which according to local media concentrated more than 600,000 people and could be the most massive to date, took place in different parts of the country, especially in the cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
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In Tel Aviv, protesters blocked traffic on the city’s main artery, waving Israeli flags and chanting “Democracy, democracy.”
In Jerusalem, large groups broke through one of the security cordons around the prime minister’s residence and clashed with the police.
In parallel, there were also massive demonstrations from north to south of the country, including large concentrations in the cities of Haifa, in the north of the country, and Beer Sheva, in the south.
Unlike the protests against judicial reform that have been taking place for the last twelve weeks, usually planned in advance and in coordination with the security forces, today’s demonstrations were spontaneous.
Netanyahu’s rejection of Gallant’s dismissal quickly spread through multiple spheres of Israeli society, including the unions, which according to local media could announce a major strike tomorrow.
In addition, the country’s universities announced that they will interrupt classes starting tomorrow and a group of mayors and municipal leaders anticipated that they would carry out a hunger strike.
On the other hand, the Israeli consul in New York, Asaf Zamir, announced, shortly after the minister’s dismissal, his resignation. “After today’s events, the time has come to join the fight for the future of Israel to ensure that it continues to be a beacon of democracy and freedom in the world,” wrote through his Twitter account.
Former Prime Minister Naftali Benet also expressed deep concern over the situation, saying that Israel faces the greatest danger since the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
The Prime Minister’s decision to dismiss the Defense Minister came less than 24 hours after he publicly urged to interrupt the controversial reform.
“I am saying this loudly and publicly, for the sake of the State of Israel and our children, we must stop this legislative process,” Gallant said last night during a televised intervention.
“We need to stop the demonstrations and protests, and seek dialogue. Anything that damages the strength of the Army and the security system must be stopped immediately,” he added, alluding to the massive popular movement rejecting the reform and the growing number of Army reservists who refuse to train and serve as protest to the same extent.
The judicial reform, promoted by Netanyahu and his far-right and ultra-Orthodox coalition partners, seeks to grant more power to the Executive to the detriment of Justice, whose independence would be undermined.
Despite criticism from countless quarters and warnings of its impact not only on the separation of powers but also on Israel’s economy, the government continues to push forward with some of the pillars of the reform, including a law that would grant control of de facto to the Government on the selection committee of judges.
The Government intends to approve this latest law this week, something that has motivated the organizers of the demonstrations to intensify the protests.
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
