It’s under slogans such as “democracy, democracy”, that a few tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated on the evening of Saturday January 14 in Tel Aviv. The latter gathered to proclaim their opposition to the policy pursued by the ruling coalition of Benjamin Netanyahu, of which they fear an anti-democratic drift.
The demonstrators gathered at the call of an anti-corruption organization, around slogans calling for “save democracy” and to prevent “the overthrow of the regime” policy in force in Israel since its creation in 1948.
It is the largest demonstration since December 29, the day the government was sworn in, bringing together right-wing, far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties.
Protest against the reform of the judicial system
It was therefore the center and left parties and the alliance of Arab parties Hadash-Taal who called on Israelis to take to the streets on Saturday, in particular to protest against the justice reform presented on January 4 by the government. by Benjamin Netanyahu.
In the absence of an official written constitution, the judiciary in Israel is the only one capable of controlling the government and safeguarding individual rights. Critics of the reform that the new government wants to implement believe that it would give the executive unlimited control over the judiciary, endangering Israeli democracy.
The new government has in fact placed the reform of the judicial system at the center of its policy, in order to authorize the Parliament to promulgate laws which go against the decisions of the Supreme Court, and this by a simple absolute majority.
The demonstrators also denounce the questioning of Mr. Netanyahu in several cases of alleged corruption. In addition to the corruption charges, the latter, who pleads his innocence, is accused of fraud and breach of trust, all in three separate cases.
Diversity of claims
To this fear for the guarantee of independence of the judicial system, are added other dissatisfactions and fears for Israeli democracy. Thus took part in the demonstrations the opponents of Israeli colonization in the West Bank, occupied Palestinian territory, as well as the movements for the defense of LGBTQ + rights, worried about the presence in the government of openly homophobic ministers.
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Around 9 p.m., Habima Square, located in the center of Tel Aviv, was therefore full on Saturday evening, causing the crowd to overflow into the adjacent streets. Many Israelis had come with their families, braving the rain under a cloud of umbrellas. According to police estimates, quoted by public radio, 20,000 demonstrators were present, while the organizers spoke of “several tens of thousands”.
The placards held up by the demonstrators reflected the diversity of demands: “The time has come to bring down the dictator”, “Government of Shame”, “There is no democracy with the occupation”, “Bibi doesn’t want democracy, we don’t need fascists in the Knesset”, “You shall love the other as yourself”, written in Hebrew and Arabic.
Among the speakers to address protesters in Habima Square is former defense minister Benny Gantz (centre right) who called on Friday on Twitter “all the Israeli people from left and right to come and demonstrate for the preservation of Israeli democracy”.
Other smaller rallies were also held simultaneously in Jerusalem, where around a thousand demonstrators gathered outside Mr. Netanyahu’s residence according to local media, and in Haifa, the major city in the north of the country.
The most right-wing government in the country’s history
From July 2020 to June 2021, the Black Flag Movement had supported a long-running protest campaign against Mr. Netanyahu to demand his resignation over the corruption scandals in which he is embroiled.
Leader of Likud, the great party of the Israeli right, and holder of the record for longevity at the head of the Israeli government, Mr. Netanyahu was ousted from power in 2021 by a motley electoral coalition which ultimately did not last a year.
He therefore returned to power at the end of December by taking the head of a new government, following the fifth legislative elections conducted in four years, the results of which bear witness to the fragmentation of Israeli society and a rightward drift.
The new government, made up of ministers from the conservative right, the extreme right and ultra-Orthodox Jews is thus the most right-wing in the history of this country of just over 9 million inhabitants.