In Israel democracy protests, both sides are digging in
| TEL AVIV, Israel
The wall of noise at Israel鈥檚 Ben Gurion Airport was all-encompassing and relentless: thousands of demonstrators with drums and horns, chanting against the government鈥檚 renewed push to overhaul the country鈥檚 judicial system.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e stealing our home; they鈥檙e destroying it,鈥� says Arnon, an older man draped in a blue-and-white Israeli flag and wearing a T-shirt that says, simply, 鈥淒emocracy.鈥�
The workday protest was part of a nationwide 鈥渄ay of disruption鈥� last Tuesday opposing the government鈥檚 plans and targeting the nation鈥檚 ports and roads.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onAt a previous crescendo of Israeli protests over the controversial judicial reform plans, the government backed off. But talks at reaching a compromise collapsed. As a first bill moves toward passage, distrust runs deep, and protesters vow to resist.
Along with escalating demonstrations and government ministers鈥� vows that they鈥檙e not backing off, signs are accumulating that both camps, deeply distrustful of each other, are heading with renewed determination toward an unprecedented collision over the nation鈥檚 democratic character.
Legal experts say the government鈥檚 proposed legislation would undermine the powers of the Supreme Court and hand unchecked power to the government.
At the airport, Arnon鈥檚 wife, Mira, says that the couple, both in their 80s and offering only their first names, had taken to the streets to make their voices heard, as they had for the previous 27 weeks of protests against the far-right government鈥檚 plans.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 bad here; it was good here before all this began,鈥� Arnon says. 鈥淭hey need to halt and stop everything.鈥�
Amid previous widespread mass demonstrations, a general strike that paralyzed the country, and a growing movement by military reservists to refuse to serve, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been forced to back down from his original plan to pass a slew of laws in parliament earlier this year, announcing a pause in late March.
Yet subsequent talks between the government and the opposition over a consensual judicial reform agenda collapsed last month.
Now senior government officials say they are intent on passing a first bill early next week targeting the ability of the Supreme Court to review government decisions and appointments.
A re-energized protest movement has drawn hundreds of thousands to the streets, and polls show some 70% of the country is still opposed to the government鈥檚 judicial program.
On an almost daily basis in recent weeks, demonstrators have shut down main highways across the country and protested outside the homes of government officials. The 鈥渄ay of disruption鈥� last week went on for 17 straight hours, and another similar weekday action is planned for tomorrow.
This past weekend, at the weekly聽Saturday night demonstration in Tel Aviv, the nation鈥檚 largest, an estimated crowd of 150,000 people listened intently as Shikma Bressler, a research physicist and protest leader, paraphrased Winston Churchill. 鈥淲e will never give in. ... We will fight everywhere,鈥� she bellowed onstage. 鈥淗istory will record this time as the most important since the declaration of [Israeli] independence.鈥�
鈥淲hat will happen to girls?鈥�
Nearby, taking a break from the din and the suffocating summertime humidity, were Yael and her 6-year-old daughter, Ella.
鈥淚n the middle, it鈥檚 important to eat ice cream,鈥� Yael says as Ella tucks into a cup while still holding her yellow horn and keeping her red headphones on to diminish the noise.
鈥淭he situation has grown worse again, and I鈥檓 afraid of what will happen to girls in this country,鈥� Yael says. The initial steps taken by the government 鈥� the most ultranationalist and religious in the country鈥檚 history 鈥� had already begun undermining gender equality, she says, and were 鈥渁 testament to the overall trend鈥� even before they succeeded in arrogating untold power for themselves. Among those steps: placing the committee for gender equality, which had been independent for years, under the purview of a government minister.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about her future,鈥� Yael adds, looking down at her daughter. 鈥淲e may not be able to raise kids here.鈥�
Legal experts say the bill now being pushed through the Knesset, which would eliminate the court鈥檚 ability to strike down government decisions and civil servant appointments on the grounds of 鈥渆xtreme unreasonableness,鈥� could have far-reaching consequences.聽聽
鈥淚t will definitely affect the rule of law, the integrity of the public sector, and will also threaten demonstrators who are currently protesting against the government鈥檚 policy 鈥� we may see much harsher treatment of demonstrators,鈥� says Prof. Rivka Weill of the Harry Radzyner Law School at Reichman University. 聽
Professor Weill calls the 鈥渞emoval of reasonableness鈥� a 鈥減relude鈥� to the possible firing of the attorney general, the top legal official in the country. Other experts surmise that such a controversial move could usher in a new and more malleable appointment that would then suspend the ongoing corruption trial against Mr. Netanyahu.
For their part, government officials and supporters contend that such legislation is imperative in order to rein in what they deem an overly activist and liberal judiciary. Senior ministers have also made clear that the planned passage next week of this first bill will not be the end of the government鈥檚 radical power grab, as its detractors characterize it, but only the beginning.
鈥淭his will be a long and ongoing process,鈥� Miki Zohar, a minister from Mr. Netanyahu鈥檚 Likud party known to reflect the premier鈥檚 thinking, said in an interview with a local news outlet. 鈥淭he [judicial] reform is not just the 鈥榬easonableness clause,鈥� there are many other issues we want to fix.鈥�
If anything, the growing protest movement has hardened government plans to push ahead, if only to show as a matter of principle that it is in charge and not the street.
Not even the swelling number of military reservists again announcing their intention to stop volunteering for service 鈥� including special forces, intelligence specialists, cyberwarriors, and air force personnel 鈥� has dissuaded the Netanyahu coalition, despite top generals warning of real damage to Israel鈥檚 war-fighting capabilities.
鈥淚t cannot be that there will be a group within the military that threatens the elected government: 鈥業f you do not do what we want, we will shut the switch on security,鈥欌�� Mr. Netanyahu said at a Monday cabinet meeting. 鈥淣o democratic country would accept such diktat; such diktat is the end of democracy.鈥�
Dictatorship vs. democracy
Yet on the sidelines of the Tel Aviv demonstration Saturday, one of the key leaders of the reservist protest group, 鈥淏rothers in Arms,鈥� preemptively dismisses such talk. Above him is a massive banner with the U.S. flag on one side, Mr. Netanyahu鈥檚 visage on the other, and a message聽鈥� Persona Non Grata 鈥� referencing the Biden administration鈥檚 strong opposition to the judicial overhaul agenda.
鈥淎.鈥� 鈥撀燼s he requests to be called聽鈥� now in his mid-30s, was an officer in an elite covert unit responsible for Israel鈥檚 northern front with Lebanon.
鈥淚n my unit, during an emergency, 120 percent of us show up, we need to stop people at the gate because there鈥檚 just not enough equipment,鈥� he says. 鈥淚n Putin鈥檚 Russia, he has to arrest people at the border [and conscript them by force]. That鈥檚 the real difference between a dictatorship and a democracy.鈥�
The reservists鈥� protest was meant to do two things, A. continues: indicate their unwillingness to serve in the army of a country that was no longer democratic and pressure the government to stop precisely that from happening.
鈥淭he fear here is definitely real. The people at the wheel [of this country now] don鈥檛 have many limits. ... They鈥檙e only guided by sectoral or personal interests,鈥� A. says, highlighting the absurdity of a government effectively declaring war against its own best and brightest, its own military, and its own economy.
鈥淭he other week we blocked the entrance to the port in Haifa and I鈥檓 sitting in the middle of the road with my arms locked,鈥� he continues. 鈥淭he reservist to my right is a CEO responsible for 600 employees. To my left is another reservist and entrepreneur who raised millions of dollars for his start-up and pays a fortune in taxes to the state. And this is all happening in the middle of a weekday!鈥�
A. says he鈥檚 not sure whether the reservists鈥� protest, and the overall protest, would ultimately win out; perhaps a general strike called by the large trade unions and local municipalities, similar to late March, would again tip the balance in their favor and force the government to again back down.
But he does promise one thing: 鈥淚f this law does pass, we鈥檒l escalate the protest.鈥�
