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Israeli protesters take to streets to blast Netanyahu 'judicial reforms' as PM calls for unity
[FoxNews] In what was considered to be one of the largest protests in Israel's history more than 80,000 people demonstrated against judicial reforms put forward by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in Jerusalem on Monday. Other protests where also held across the country.The demonstrators, marched and gathered outside the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, held flags and chanted "democracy" and "no to dictatorship" as Netanyahu's government formally launched a controversial plan to overhaul the country's judicial system. According to the suggested plan, which was introduced mid-January, the ruling coalition will have control over the appointment of judges, including high court justices, and allow the Knesset to re-legislate laws the court annuls with a majority of a simple majority of 61 of the 120 Knesset members. The government will also be able to appoint the president and vice president of the supreme court neither of whom needed to have previously served on the court and potentially not even served as a lower court judge. Justice Minister Yariv Levin has argued that the hight court has surpassed its authority in the last two decades and severely interfered with the ability of elected coalitions and ministers to enact government policies. Netanyahu released a short video following Monday's mass demonstration where he called on the leaders of opposition to "Stop it. Stop deliberately deteriorating the country into anarchy. Take care of yourselves, and show responsibility and leadership. Most Israeli citizens do not want anarchy. They want a substantive discussion, and in the end, they want unity," he said. Despite Herzog's plea the Knesset's constitution, law, and justice Committee, headed by MK Simcha Rothman, approved the second bill that would prevent the Supreme Court from overruling legislation amending one of Israel's semi-constitutional basic laws – effectively restricting the court's power of judicial review on core issues. The vote now sends the legislation to the entire parliament for a series of votes. The step caused chaos in the committee, as opposition members who objected to the move shouted at Rothman 'shame' and were removed from the meeting. Posted by: Skidmark 2023-02-14 |
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