TEL AVIV – Israeli military reservists blocked the entrance to the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on Tuesday as protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned reform of the judicial system again swept the country.
Almost all Israelis do military service, and the political views of reservists carry significant weight.
In other parts of Tel Aviv, protesters blocked roads and gathered outside the stock exchange, many waving Israeli flags, in what activists called a “day of disruption.”
As of 12 a.m. (5 a.m. ET), police said 19 people had been arrested for alleged disorderly conduct offences. Police said in a statement that while the right to protest would be respected, disorderly conduct “will not be tolerated.”
The protests came a day after President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Netanyahu in what is seen as an easing of tensions between the two leaders over judicial reform.
Biden urged Netanyahu to find “the broadest possible consensus” on judicial reforms, stressing that “shared democratic values have always been and must continue to be a hallmark of the relationship between the United States and Israel,” the White House said in a statement. a statement.
Democracy advocates have taken to the streets for months, blocking roads and cracking down on government plans to give Netanyahu and his allies greater powers to appoint judges and overturn court decisions.
Netanyahu halted the plan in March amid mounting public pressure, but he is back in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, this week and lawmakers are expected to cast their final votes next week.
Shikma Bressler, a physicist and one of the leaders of the protest movement, said in a statement that the government was clear about its plans to “ultimately undermine both the courts and the freedom of the press,” drawing inspiration from “similar authoritarian regimes around the world.” world”. .”
“But as can be seen on the streets, squares and highways of Israel today and for 29 weeks in a row, the public has chosen a different path: democracy,” he said.
“We are here to tell the government of Israel: the more you push, the more we will resist,” Jonathan Eran Kali, 62, a retired tech worker, told Reuters.
Netanyahu and his ultra-conservative and orthodox allies in the coalition argue that the plan is necessary to check the power of unelected and biased judges.
Transport Minister Miri Regev has written to the country’s attorney general requesting legal intervention to prevent protesters from closing train stations. The Jerusalem Post reported. The protests are expected to last until Wednesday and beyond, while the bill moves through parliament.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right cabinet minister who once said there is “no such thing” as a Palestinian people, said he wished a protester who was injured Tuesday a speedy recovery, without providing further details. .
Opposition parties have tried to stop progress on the bill by lodging more than 27,000 objections, but the ruling Likud party and its coalition partners hold a majority and have until a July 30 recess to pass the legislation.
Netanyahu and his allies have pointed to a lecture by a conservative Supreme Court justice, Noam Sohlberg, in 2020 in which he expressed concern about some court rulings being made according to “reasonableness.”
Sohlberg said this weekhowever, that he was not suggesting that the problem should be fixed by new legislation.
Netanyahu, 73, was admitted to a hospital and fitted with a heart monitor on Saturday after being treated for dehydration. He later said that he had been out in the blazing sun without a hat or water.
Lawahez Jabari and Paul Goldman reported from Tel Aviv and Patrick Smith from London.
