Israelis Keep Pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu With Fresh Protests

( WSJ )

Thousands of Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv and other cities across the country Saturday to protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul, seeking to sustain a movement that pressured the premier to delay the divisive plan and engage in negotiations over a compromise.

Saturday night’s protests mark the 13th straight weekend that Israelis have come out to demonstrate against the plan in what has become a weekly ritual for many people here. Around 230,000 people demonstrated in downtown Tel Aviv, protest organizers estimated.

Protest organizers are seeking to sustain the mass movement despite scoring a win with Mr. Netanyahu’s concession to delay the proposed legislations, which have divided the country and sparked concern from key allies such as the U.S. President Biden told reporters this week he was “very concerned” about the judicial overhaul and cautioned Israeli leaders that “they cannot continue down this road.”

In a mass sea of Israeli flags, some protesters, like Nadav Arnheim, 31, carried American flags Saturday night. Mr. Arnheim said he wanted to show support for Mr. Biden after his comments urging Mr. Netanyahu to compromise on the judicial overhaul. “We really need the help of our friends in America,” Mr. Arnheim said, pushing a stroller with his young son and dog. “We need them to help us get back on track before it’s too late.”

Offir Gutzelson, a speaker at the Saturday night protest in Tel Aviv, took a break from speaking in Hebrew to address Mr. Biden, Congress and Americans in English. “We thank you for not being silent,” he said.

Protesters say they don’t expect Mr. Netanyahu to ultimately strike a deal with the opposition that would address their concerns. They also note that Mr. Netanyahu hasn’t stopped the legislation but only delayed it until after the Israeli Parliament, or Knesset, comes back from recess in May, and could choose to pass it at any time.

“The majority do not trust that the government is really seeking something which will leave Israel a democracy,” said Shikma Bressler, a physicist who is a leader of the protest movement.

Ms. Bressler expects the protests won’t die down until the legislation is stopped altogether or an agreement comes together that they feel protects Israel’s system of checks and balances. “Maybe some [protesters] will take some days off, but people are still alert,” she said.

Since Mr. Netanyahu put the legislation on hold, supporters of the overhaul also have held protests that have drawn thousands. On Thursday night, thousands of protesters demonstrated in Tel Aviv in favor of the overhaul, some of them marching along the main highway and shutting down traffic.

The fight over the judicial overhaul reached a crescendo after Mr. Netanyahu fired the defense minister for publicly saying the overhaul had sparked divisions within the military that was becoming a national-security threat. The firing sparked mass, spontaneous protests across the country and a general strike the next day grounded planes, shut banks and closed government offices.

Scores of Israeli reservists, from elite pilots to intelligence officers, also said they would refuse to serve if the legislation passed, breaking a taboo in a country that reveres military service as a sacred national duty.

Galit Malal, 50, said her brother was killed during his military service and she was protesting for the 13th straight week to ensure his death wasn’t in vain. She said she doesn’t trust Mr. Netanyahu to negotiate in earnest. “Bibi is really a liar,” she said, using the premier’s nickname. “We don’t have any choice but to be out in the streets.”

Mr. Netanyahu on Monday said he would delay a vote on a bill that would have been the first part of a larger effort to remake the country’s judicial system. On Tuesday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog hosted representatives from the coalition and the opposition to begin negotiating a compromise, which helped calm tensions.

Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition has proposed legislation that would give the ruling coalition more power on the committee that appoints judges, limit judicial review and allow a simple majority of lawmakers to override Supreme Court decisions.

Mr. Netanyahu and his coalition allies argue that Israel’s top court is controlled by liberal, activist judges who too easily overrule the will of elected officials by striking down laws they deem unconstitutional, a power they argue judges have taken for themselves but which was never explicitly handed to them.

Opponents of the plan say it would undermine Israel’s already limited system of checks and balances and weaken protections for minorities by handing near-unchecked power to the ruling coalition.

Yuval Noah Harari, a historian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who has spoken from the podium at the protests, said he knows many people are tired and need a break from protesting and many, including himself, want to give the negotiations time to work. But he said protesters believe that the threat to the Supreme Court is still there.

“Without question, the protest movement is not going anywhere,” he said. “It’s very aware of the dangers that we are facing.”