Major Israel protests persist as judicial reform bill advances in Parliament

Thousands of Israelis blocked highways leading to several major cities, including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, as part of ongoing protests over Israel’s controversial judicial reform bill. The bill won a first of three required votes to be written into law late Monday, July 10.

According to Israel Democracy Institute President Yohanan Plesner, the bill “undermines the ability of the Supreme Court to conduct judicial review over decisions of the government.”

“Basically, to make it more difficult to conduct oversight on what might be labelled in the U.S. [as] capricious and arbitrary decisions of elected officials,” Plesner said on Tuesday, July 11. “This is one chapter of a broader plan and program of the government to weaken the checks and balances.”

Critics argue the bill will neuter judicial oversight that helps prevent corruption and abuses of power. Proponents say the change will facilitate effective governance by curbing court intervention, arguing that judges have other legal means to exercise oversight.

“To some extent there’s a showdown between the government that wants to promote this legislation and concentrate more and more power in the hands of the elected politicians from the coalition,” Plesner said. “The protesters, they are adamant in protecting the checks and balances that characterized Israeli democracy for decades.”

Police said 42 people were arrested for public disturbance during Tuesday’s protests. More protests to the judicial reform bill were planned for throughout Tuesday, including one at Israel’s main international airport that could disrupt travel.

Some members of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party have said the bill will be watered down before it is brought to a final vote. They hope to wrap that final vote up before the Knesset breaks for the summer on July 30.

Until then, the impacts of the judicial reform bill protests may soon have a larger effect on Israel as a whole. 300 reservists from the military’s cyber unit signed a letter Tuesday saying they would not volunteer for service, explaining the government has demonstrated “it is determined to destroy the state of Israel.” Meanwhile, the head of the country’s national labor union threatened a possible general strike that could paralyze the country’s economy.

“I call on the Prime Minister: the ball is in your court,” union head Arnon Bar-David said Tuesday. “Where are you taking the State of Israel? What legacy will you leave behind? Where are you taking Israel’s society? You are also concerned with what’s happening here. Stop the crazy chaos in the Israeli society, stop it and as soon as possible.”