Protests and discontent grow after approval of Israel’s first judicial reform law

Police Israeli used stinking water cannons against protesters for the first time this afternoon anti-judicial reform in Jerusalemwhile the unrest grew and the protests continued after the approval of a key law of this controversial plan.

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Following the approval this afternoon of the first rule of the package of laws for judicial reform, which annuls the capacity of the supreme court to review or revoke government decisions based on whether they were reasonable or not, protest movements continued on the streets around the Parliament in Jerusalem and other parts of the city, and also called for more mobilizations for the rest of the country.

Before cries of “shame” or slogans of “democracy or rebellion” either “we will not give up”, thousands of congregants continued protesting in the Holy cityand they also kept blocking roads as part of their usual civil disobedience actions.

Demonstrators march with Israeli rainbow and Pride flags during a protest rally against the Israeli government’s judicial reform plan in Tel Aviv on July 24, 2023. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)

At one of these points, the police forces threw stinking water to disperse the congregants, according to EFE.

For months and this very morning, the use of water cannons by the Police against demonstrators has been common. This afternoon water was also thrown at photojournalists, and in turn for the first time the stinking water was used against the protesters.

“After this law was passed today, I feel like I’m losing my country,” Raz Weiss, a 23-year-old Israeli who continued to protest this afternoon and claimed to feel “concerned and distressed” before the drift of Israel.

Naama Mitelmana 34-year-old Israeli protester, had a similar feeling of discomfort and told EFE that she perceives that the country “is being kidnapped.”

Israeli security forces use a water cannon to disperse protesters blocking the entrance to the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in Jerusalem on July 24, 2023. (Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP) (RONALDO SCHEMIDT/)

“I’m scared for the future” and “I feel like everything my grandparents built when they came to this country is going to waste”he added.

During the day, as thousands of protesters surrounded Parliament, the Police also arrested at least 19 people.

The movement groups anti-reform They have assured that they will “fight until the end” against “the Government of destruction”.

In turn, the main federation of trade unions, Histadrutwarned this afternoon that “any unilateral advance of the reform will have serious consequences” and could lead to “a total strike.”

The legislation approved today nullifies the reasonableness doctrinewhich supposes the elimination of the power of the Supreme Court to overthrow or intervene in government decisions as it deems reasonable.

Israeli mounted riot police confront protesters during a protest rally against the Israeli government’s judicial reform plan in Tel Aviv on July 24, 2023.(Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)

Upon approval, the NGO Movement for Quality Governance already appealed to the Supreme Court when considering it “unconstitutional”.

The new legislation “fundamentally changes the basic structure of Israeli parliamentary democracy and the nature of the regime, while de facto abolishing the judiciary and severely damaging the delicate fabric of the division of powers”, the entity claimed.

The leader of the opposition, the centrist Yair Lapidassured that the step taken today “It is a total breach of the rules of the game”and promised that he will present an appeal against the law approved tomorrow in the Supreme Court.

Source: Elcomercio