Thousands of people are demonstrating Thursday evening in Tel Aviv in favor of the justice reform project which is dividing Israeli society, AFP journalists noted.
"The people demand judicial reform," chanted the demonstrators, who came to support the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The latter announced on Monday a "pause" in the examination of this reform in Parliament after almost three months of demonstrations of a rare scale against the project, the start of a general strike and dissension within the majority.
"We are in a democracy, we have won and it is not normal that we are not allowed to govern as the majority wants," said Meirav Reuven, a 52-year-old economist from Ashdod (south) to "support “Mr. Netanyahu and Yariv Levin, his justice minister and great architect of reform.
For the government and its supporters, the reform aims to rebalance powers by reducing the prerogatives of the Supreme Court, which the executive considers politicized, in favor of Parliament and the executive power.
Its detractors believe, on the contrary, that the reform risks leading to an authoritarian drift that jeopardizes Israeli democracy.
"I don't agree [with those who say reform is a threat to democracy], I think democracy is the will of the people, it's what the people want. It's not not normal that a minority in the Supreme Court determines the policy of the country, it should not be like that," said Israeli flag in hand Yahel, a 28-year-old tourism worker from Acre (north).
This is the first major demonstration of support for the reform being held in Tel Aviv, where protesters of opponents have held at least every Saturday evening since the announcement of the project in early January.
Protesters blocked the Ayalon, the main highway through the coastal metropolis.
After the legislative "pause" announced by Mr. Netanyahu to give a "chance [...] to dialogue", a meeting took place on Tuesday between representatives of the majority and the two main opposition parties, within the framework of a mediation under the aegis of President Isaac Herzog.
According to a senior Israeli official, the Prime Minister is determined to find a compromise, convinced that this is the best way to ensure that the reform will not be called into question in the event of a change in the political majority, and such a compromise seems to handy.
Several political commentators and opposition leaders are much more skeptical about the chances of success of presidential mediation.
30/03/2023 22:36:54 - Tel Aviv (AFP) © 2023 AFP
