Weeks of anti-government protests in Israel turned violent on Wednesday March 1 when police fired stun grenades and a water cannon at protesters blocking a Tel Aviv highway. The crackdown came shortly after the far-right government’s national security minister called for a tough response against what he labeled “anarchists.”
Violence in Israel broke out on March 1 when thousands of people across the country participated in the so-called “national day of disruption” against the government’s plan to reform the country’s judicial system.
Allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu say the program is meant to reduce the influence of unelected judges.
But critics, including influential business leaders and former military officers, say Netanyahu is pushing the country toward authoritarian rule and has a clear conflict of interest in attacking magistrates as the premier is investigated on corruption charges.
The massive protests against Netanyahu
Since the Netanyahu administration took office two months ago, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest changes they say endanger Israel’s fragile system of checks and balances.
This Wednesday, however, marked the first day that the Police used force against the crowds.
The government is continuing with legal changes as a parliamentary committee advances a bill that would weaken the Supreme Court.
The crisis sends shock waves through the nation, presenting a serious challenge to Netanyahu. In addition, the wave of violence in recent weeks in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict deepens the problems.
Rival sides dig in, deepening one of Israel’s worst internal crises. Netanyahu and his government, made up of ultranationalists, describe the protesters as “anarchists”, without going so far as to condemn a mob of West Bank settlers who burned down a Palestinian town earlier this week.
Members of the Israeli Army denounce a possible “dictatorship”
The legal reform has sparked unprecedented collective unrest, with weeks of mass protests, criticism from legal experts and rare demonstrations by Army reservists who have vowed to defy orders under what they say would be a dictatorship if the reform is successful. approved.
Business leaders, the country’s booming tech sector, and top economists have warned of economic turmoil due to the court changes. Israel’s international allies have expressed concern.
In the first scenes of unrest since the protests began two months ago, police rode into the center of the coastal city of Tel Aviv on horseback, hurled stun grenades and used a water cannon at thousands of protesters chanting “democracy” and “Police State”.
Video posted on social media even showed a police officer pinning a protester with his knee to his neck and another recorded a man whose ear he reportedly ripped off with a flashbang.
Anti-Netanyahu protest in Israel – Israelis are coming out in large numbers to protest against Netanyahu’s plan of subverting democracy and constitution. pic.twitter.com/13CzNzT8mi
—Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) March 1, 2023
In front of the uniformed men, the demonstrators also chanted “Where were they?”, in reference to the absence of the security forces during the attack by the settlers on the Palestinian city of Hawara, which took hours to extinguish and for which the military They said they weren’t ready.
The police institution pointed out that the demonstrators threw stones and water bottles at their men.
In addition, he reported that he arrested 39 protesters in Tel Aviv for disturbing the peace, while 11 people were hospitalized with various injuries, according to the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.
In the early hours of Wednesday, protesters blocked the city’s main highway and the road connecting the city to Jerusalem, halting rush-hour traffic for about an hour.
Similarly, at the busy Tel Aviv train stations, protesters prevented trains from leaving by blocking their doors.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist accused of politicizing the police, vowed to take a hard line and called on authorities to avoid roadblocks, after branding the protesters “anarchists.”
“Protect democracy”, the call of the mobilizations
Thousands protested across the country waving Israeli flags, parents marching with their children, tech workers and doctors in uniform joined the demonstrations outside hospitals.
Even so, larger protests are expected in the coming hours in the vicinity of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, and near Netanyahu’s official residence in Jerusalem.
“All the people here are trying to keep Israel a democracy and if the current government gets away with it, we fear that we will no longer be a democracy or a free country (…) As a woman, as a mother, I am very afraid for myself. family and my friends,” said Arianna Shapira, a protester in Tel Aviv.
The Minister of Justice, Yariv Levin, the main architect of the reform, said on Tuesday, February 28, that the coalition intends to convert some of the judicial reform bills into law next month, before the Legislature goes into recess. for the Jewish Passover holiday, on April 2.
The Knesset is also set to cast a preliminary vote on Wednesday on a separate proposal to protect Netanyahu from being removed from office, a move that comes after a citizen movement called on the country’s attorney general to declare him “unfit for office.” post”.
The government of ultranationalist tendencies in Israel
Netanyahu has been at the center of a years-long political crisis in Israel, with former allies turning against him and refusing to sit with the premier in government over his alleged corruption charges.
That political turmoil, with five elections in four years, culminated in Netanyahu’s return to power late last year, with ultra-nationalist and ultra-Orthodox parties as partners in the current far-right government.
Wielding immense political power, those allies secured top portfolios in the current Administration, including Ben-Gvir, who before entering politics was arrested dozens of times and once convicted of inciting violence and supporting a terrorist group. . Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the West Bank settlers, was given authority over parts of the territory.
The Israeli government has vowed to take a tough stance against the Palestinians, raising tensions in recent weeks. Smotrich publicly called for a strong response to the killing of two Israelis in the West Bank by a Palestinian gunman.
In addition to the protests, the Netanyahu government, the most right-wing in the history of Israel, begins to show anticipated cracks, just two months after starting his term.
The Administration maintains that the legal changes are intended to correct an imbalance that has given the courts too much power and allowed them to meddle in the legislative process. The officials say the reform would streamline governance, noting that last year’s elections, which returned Netanyahu to power with a slim majority in parliament, give them the authority to make the changes.
Meanwhile, critics say the amendment will hit Israel’s system of checks and balances, giving the prime minister and his government unlimited power, which would push the country towards authoritarianism.
This article was adapted from its original in English.
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