JERUSALEM — Israel was in an uproar Monday after the country’s parliament gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s sweeping plans to overhaul the judicial system a boost by passing a law that weakens the powers of the courts.
Ignoring huge protests in the streets and warnings from the White House and other international allies, Israeli lawmakers allied with Netanyahu pushed through a bill that takes away the power of the Supreme Court to declare government decisions unreasonable.
The vote came before opposition politicians shouting “shame” and “government of destruction” stormed out of the chamber, leaving behind the governing coalition of far-right and religious parties which passed the contentious bill 64 to nothing.
Later, a crowd of protesters outside the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, tried to cross a police cordon near the building before being repelled by security, officials said.
Netanyahu, who attended the vote hours after being released from a hospital following an emergency heart procedure, and his allies say the change is needed to stop unelected judges from overruling democratic leaders.
The Israeli leader, in an address afterward to his countrymen, defended the vote and said it was “aimed at restoring a degree of balance between the authorities, which was here for 50 years.”
“We passed the amendment on the reason of reasonableness, so that the elected government could lead the policy in accordance with the decision of the majority of the country’s citizens,” Netanyahu insisted. “Fulfilling the will of the voter is by no means the end of democracy, it is the essence of democracy. “
Netanyahu said he tried to find common ground with his opponents and will resume negotiations again soon.
Israeli Opposition Leader Yair Lapid they “will not participate in talks that are an empty show.”
“Netanyahu’s statement this evening is another lie whose sole purpose is to take pressure off the Americans and put the protest to sleep,” Lapid said in a video statement. “The government of the extremists and the messiahs cannot in the afternoon tear apart our democracy and in the evening send Netanyahu to say that he offers negotiations. They will not make us give up, we will not give up, the fight has just begun.”
Prior to the vote, President Isaac Herzog had attempted to find a compromise between the government and opposition parties and called the standoff between the two sides a “national emergency.”
Thousands of protesters outside the Knesset believe the government’s proposed judicial overhaul is a Netanyahu power grab and national crisis and argue that a crucial check on political power will now be lost and the Jewish state’s democracy will be diluted.
Demonstrators banged on drums, blew horns and waved Israeli flags as they blocked a road leading to the Knesset. Businesses closed in protest. Police used water cannons to disperse the crowds.
Dozens of protesters outside the Knesset have been detained, including one who allegedly bit a police officer, officials said.
Netanyahu’s critics say the Israeli leader faces a choice between democracy and autocracy.
“After an unprecedented wave of protests, and clear warnings from the security establishment, industry leaders, the hi-tech sector, the trade unions and now directly from the White House, today Netanyahu will decide between the will of the people and the will of the extremists in his own government,” Shikma Bressler, a protest movement leader, said in a statement before the final vote.
Many military reservists and retired veterans are taking part in the direct action, a sign of how deeply felt the overhaul is across Israeli society.
“We’re not going to continue to risk our lives going to serve in an air force of a country that is not democratic. It’s as simple as that,” Guy Poran, a former air force pilot who is now a protest movement leader, said ahead of the vote.
“You’re either for this kind of legislation or you’re fighting against it. And this is something that has never happened in 75 years of existence of Israel. And, frankly, it’s frightening,” he said.
So many reservists are taking part in protests that it has become a national security problem, according to a senior military leader.
“These are dangerous cracks,” military chief…
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