Protests continue in Israel despite Netanyahu suspending the judicial amendments
Protest leaders against the plan to “reform the judiciary” in Israel announced the continuation of their activities, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to temporarily freeze his controversial plan, and thousands of demonstrators continued to flock to the streets in Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv, stressing the need to cancel all Legislations included in the plan, and not just freezing them temporarily.
Earlier Monday evening, Netanyahu said in a televised speech, “I decided to suspend the Knesset’s vote on legislation reforming the judiciary, to reach a broad agreement out of national responsibility and the desire to prevent the division of the nation.”
Clashes erupted between the police and the demonstrators, who tried to reach and close Ayalon Street in Tel Aviv, according to the Hebrew newspaper “Haaretz”.
Two Israeli policemen were injured after demonstrators threw bottles at them, in Tel Aviv, and the “Walla” website quoted the protest leaders as saying, “They are continuing to demonstrate.” According to the Hebrew newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, the police arrested a total of 33 demonstrators during the Tel Aviv protests on Monday night.
The head of the opposition, Yair Lapid, had cautiously welcomed Netanyahu’s speech on freezing “judicial reform.” Lapid said in tweets on Twitter, “We must let the president (Isaac Herzog) determine the negotiating mechanism and trust him as a fair mediator. This is all we have asked for in the past two months: Genuine and constructive dialogue from a leadership ready to take responsibility.
“This is the biggest crisis in the history of the country. We have a responsibility to solve it together, so that we can live together here. Today we need to build the country in which our children will live in the future,” he added.
However, he hinted at the possibility of the prime minister taking the decision as a maneuver to calm the tense atmosphere in the streets, saying, “We heard with concern the report according to which Netanyahu told his close associates: I will not stop in reality, I am only calming the souls.” Lapid warned that “if Netanyahu tries to maneuver, he will find another Another hundreds of thousands of Israeli patriots determined to fight for our democracy.
On Sunday evening, Netanyahu sacked Security Minister Yoav Gallant, a day after the latter called on the government to stop the “judicial reform” plan, and as a result, Israel witnessed massive nightly protests, whose momentum continued until the dawn hours of Monday.
Israeli reports said that the number of demonstrators in the Israeli streets, on Sunday evening, amounted to 500,000 demonstrators, who came out spontaneously without prior coordination in the wake of the announcement of Galant’s dismissal, while coalition officials considered that Netanyahu committed a “strategic mistake” by dismissing Galant.
For the past 12 weeks, tens of thousands of Israelis have been demonstrating against the “judicial reform” plan supported by the Netanyahu government. The Israeli Knesset has decisive powers regarding the appointment of judges.
