Violent clashes took place yesterday in Tel Aviv between the police and demonstrators who denounced the “undemocratic” nature of the judicial reform promoted by the most right-wing government in the history of Israel.
The police dispersed the marchers with water cannons, tear gas and stun grenades, blocking several streets and communication routes in the city. Agents on horseback also charged into the crowd.
According to a police statement, 39 people were arrested for disturbing public order.
Eleven protesters were treated with various injuries at the Ichilov hospital in Tel Aviv, said the spokesman for that institution.
“The right to demonstrate is not the right to blockade the country,” Conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a news conference in Jerusalem late at night.
“A sovereign country cannot tolerate anarchy,” added the head of government, who accused the protesters of having crossed “a red line.”
The protests, which for two months have generally been held on Saturday nights and have brought together tens of thousands of people, have so far not prevented the progress of the controversial reform.
The Knesset (Parliament) approved this Wednesday in a preliminary reading by 62 votes in favor and 20 against (out of a total of 120 seats) a new article, which restricts the possibilities of dismissal of a head of government.
The reform was announced in early January by the government formed in December by Netanyahu with ministers from the right, ultra-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish formations. According to its detractors, the text, which seeks to reduce the influence of the judiciary in favor of political power, threatens the separation of powers and the democratic character of Israel.
Netanyahu and his Minister of Justice, Yariv Levin, instead consider that this reform will restore a balance of forces between legislators and the Supreme Court, which they see as a politicized institution.
The deputies also adopted a preliminary reading by 55 votes in favor and 9 against a bill that seeks to authorize “the death penalty against terrorists.”
