I became your enemy because I tell you the truth
“You can fool some of the people all the time and all the people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.” A. Lincoln
The following report is by The Trends Journal:
Protests broke out [last] Saturday night in Tel Aviv’s central Habima Square and other locations over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline that has been accused of trying to erase the country’s system of checks and balances by overhauling the judicial system.
The protesters, who braved torrential rains, say the reforms sought by the government aim to weaken the Supreme Court by allowing the Knesset the ability to overturn rulings with a simple majority. About 100,000 Israeli protesters took to the streets across Israel and there were brief clashes with police after some tried to block a major road.
The rallies were endorsed by opposition parties along with Esther Hayat, the Supreme Court’s top judge.
Hayat called the proposal an “unbridled attack on the justice system” and said the proposal would give the government a “blank check” to pass laws. She said the proposals, if passed, would mean Israel’s 75thanniversary of independence would be “remembered as the year in which the country’s democratic identity was dealt a fatal blow.”
One protester said she assumed the new government would make changes, but has been mortified at the speed.
“We will fight until the very last minute to save the Israeli democracy,” one protester told NPR. (Video from one of the clashes was posted on Twitter.) Protesters chanted “no democracy without the High Court” and held up signs that read, “Save Israel,” the Financial Times reported.
The paper noted that Isaac Herzog, the Israeli president, indicated that he hopes to intervene and come up with a suitable compromise.
I am now focused on two critical roles that I believe I bear as president at this hour: averting a historic constitutional crisis and stopping the continued rift within our nation.
He said in a statement.
The protesters see the attack on the judiciary as an existential threat to democracy in the country.
We need to keep Israel as a normal state so that the rest of the world will still talk to us. [If these judicial reforms are passed] the world will look at us like a crazy state . . . We want to be a free country where you can dress as you like and say what you want.
A protester told the FT.
TRENDPOST: Netanyahu is on trial for corruption charges so it makes sense that he wants the country’s legal system to be overhauled and put in the hands of the Knesset. The embattled prime minister has not hidden the fact that judicial reform is a top agenda item.
His detractors say his attempt at reform can essentially lead to his case completely disappearing.
Netanyahu has indicated that he will not let up on his push, and said judicial reform was one of the initiatives that helped him get elected. Jettisoning the proposal now would betray their trust.
We will complete legislating the reforms in a way that will correct what needs correcting, will totally protect individual rights, and will restore the public’s faith in the justice system that so much requires this reform.
Netanyahu said, according to Politico.
All it takes for Evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing
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https://winepressnews.com/2023/01/23/israel-sees-large-scale-breakout-after-netanyahu-touts-reform-plans/
Michael Loyman