Tue 07 March 2023:
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Tel Aviv is going through a “historic crisis” that threatens to destroy it from within, amid mass protests against government plans for a judicial overhaul.
“We are in a historic crisis that threatens to destroy us from within,” Herzog said in a speech during a meeting with 100 mayors and heads of local councils.
“We are in one of the most difficult moments that the State of Israel has experienced. It seems like a paradox, doesn’t it? No missiles, no alarms, no red alert. But we all know deep down that this is a supreme national danger,” he added.
He referred to the economic repercussions of the internal dispute, saying they are “enormous”.
Herzog called on the ruling coalition and the opposition to “rise” to the occasion and put the public interest “above everything else”.
Most legal scholars say the reforms would effectively destroy the independence of the judiciary, while opposition figures describe the proposals as an attempted “regime coup” by the prime minister and his coalition.
Netanyahu is also on trial for corruption charges, which he denies, and opponents claim the legal reforms could help shield him from conviction.
Among the proposals being advanced by the most radical members of Netanyahu’s ruling coalition are bills that would allow politicians to appoint all supreme court judges, and an override clause that would mean a simple parliamentary majority could quash the court’s rulings. The changes would probably help the prime minister avoid prosecution in his corruption trial, in which he denies all charges.
Proponents of the changes say they are needed to counter a perceived leftwing bias in the court’s decisions, while critics say they will lead to democratic backsliding such as that seen in Hungary and Turkey.
The planned overhaul has led to the biggest protest movement in Israel’s history, with hundreds of thousands of people marching in cities over the last two months. The protests turned violent last week, with police deploying stun grenades and water cannon.
Sectors that would never normally get involved in politics, such as economists, Israel’s booming hi-tech sector, and former high-ranking military and intelligence leaders, have all voiced opposition to the judicial plans.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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