Crisis grows in Israel over divisive judicial reform

The crisis in Israel escalated on Tuesday, a day after parliament adopted a key measure of a controversial judicial reform project launched by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which has called for a general strike in the context of growing protests.

Several appeals have been filed to the Supreme Court, notably by the Israeli Bar, to invalidate the law, which was voted on by the 64 elected members of the prime minister’s coalition, which includes ultra-Orthodox and far-right Jewish parties.

The Netanyahu government believes the measure, which aims to increase the power of elected officials compared to magistrates, is necessary to ensure a better balance of powers.

Its critics see it as a threat to democracy and fear it opens the way for authoritarian drift.

In protest against the law, which limits the possibility of the Supreme Court invalidating the government’s decision, doctors’ unions on Tuesday launched a general strike in public service, except in emergencies.

He condemned the lack of dialogue between the parties concerned and “people who celebrate victory in celebrations where there are only losers”.

On Monday, Arnon Bar David, the powerful leader of the Histadrut trade union centre, warned that “any unilateral progress in reform will have serious consequences”, threatening a “general strike if necessary”.

Several Israeli dailies painted their front pages completely black on Tuesday morning with the words “Black day for Israeli democracy.”

Since its announcement in January, the justice reform bill has sparked one of the largest protests in Israel’s history, which intensified as the vote drew closer.

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According to a police spokesperson, police arrested 58 people on charges of disturbing public order during the demonstrations that continued till late Monday evening.

Police used water cannons to disperse protesters trying to block major roads in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

“You see what’s happening in the street (…), everyone is very angry, I’m really sad,” Josh Hakim, a student who demonstrated near the parliament in Jerusalem on Monday evening, told AFP.

The measure, voted on Monday, is the first reform to become law that prevents the Supreme Court from assessing the “reasonableness” of a government decision and invalidating it.

The clause forced Mr Netanyahu in January to sack Eri Deri, the government’s number two, censured for tax evasion, after a Supreme Court intervention.

Critics of the prime minister, who is on trial for corruption, accuse him of wanting to use the reform to reduce a possible verdict against him.

Mr Netanyahu said on Monday he wanted to hold talks with the opposition on continuing the reform project and “lead the dialogue between us”.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid responded that “Netanyahu’s goal was to silence the protesters” and warned that the conflict had just begun.

In the context of increasing Israeli-Palestinian violence, demonstrations have attracted people from all political and social backgrounds, secular or religious, peace activists, blue-collar workers or technology sector workers, but also army reservists.