Israel. Protests against the reform of the judiciary. “Day of paralysis” on city streets. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comments

Thursday is in Israel “day of paralysis”, i.e. another mass protests against the reform. There were 150 demonstrations planned across the country for the day. The protesters gathered in front of the houses of ministers and the prime minister, among others Benjamin Netanyahu.

In Tel Aviv, mounted police and water cannons were sent to the Ajalon Highway that runs through the city center, the Times of Israel reported. Previously, security forces used water cannons against demonstrators in Haifa.

Hundreds of protesters in Tel Aviv waved Israeli flags, cheered and refused to get off the highway.

On Thursday evening, Israeli Defense Minister Joaw Galant was to appear at a news conference in Tel Aviv and call for the abandonment of the reform.

Netanyahu summoned the minister to a meeting, after which Galant’s press service said in a statement that he had briefed the prime minister on the “national security implications of the reform.” The minister’s conference was canceled due to the speech of the head of government, the statement said. According to Reuters, Galant also spoke with the prime minister about the position of the army and the military establishment on the planned changes in the judiciary.

In a televised speech, Netanyahu announced that he would not give up implementing the reform, but promised to take into account the objections of the opposition and get involved in its preparation. He also said he wanted to “rebuild the unity” of Israeli society to avoid deep divisions, reports the Times of Israel.

Leader of the Israeli opposition Yair Lapid criticized the prime minister’s position and called on “responsible members” of Netanyahu’s Likud party to revolt against the policy of pushing for reform.

According to the Times of Israel, the right-wing coalition’s Banner of Torah group issued a statement in which it said it would support any decision by Netanyahu on the reform, but there are many indications that the controversy surrounding it and the scale of social protests have shaken the unity of the coalition.

Galant had previously been attacked by some MPs and members of the government; some of them called on him to resign. Homeland Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir issued a statement saying that Galant had “removed himself from the camp of the right.”

The radical right-wing Jewish Force party said in a statement that the minister was “responsible for the policy of appeasement against terror and the administrative detention of right-wing activists.” It turns out that he is on the side of those who “want to prevent the right from implementing its policies.”

The defense minister, former head of the elite naval division, is a member of the Likud party of the head of government. Galant had previously raised objections to the reform project, which led many Israelis to declare that they would ignore calls for military and reservist training in protest.

Earlier, the situation in Tel Aviv was reported by the reporter of “Fakty” TVN, Jacek Tacik, who was staying on the spot. As he said, the protesters chanted slogans such as “This is not Israel Hungary“Israel is not Poland”, referring to the changes in the justice system there.

Three widows of IDF soldiers asked on Thursday in a letter to Defense Minister Joaw Galant not to send them annual wishes and gifts on the occasion of Yom ha-Zikkaron, which is celebrated in memory of soldiers who died for Israel, the Jerusalem Post reported. This year, the holiday falls on April 24.

“Our loved ones went to war not only to defend the country’s borders and the safety of its people, but also so that we can continue to live in a democratic, free and pluralistic state under the rule of law,” the women wrote.

“We feel that the government of which you are a part does not share the vision of our loved ones and violates the contract it has made – not only with the living, but also with the dead,” emphasized the widows of the soldiers.

A group of navy veterans blocked the road to the seaport of Ashdod, about 25 kilometers south of Tel Aviv, on Thursday morning with a barricade of burning tires. The situation has already been brought under control by the police.

In Jerusalem, on the walls of the Old City, demonstrators hung a large Israeli flag and a card with the text of Israel’s Declaration of Independence. They also carried banners that read “loyal to the Declaration of Independence.”

The draft reform of the judiciary proposed by the Israeli government assumes, among other things, increasing the government’s control over the election process of Supreme Court judges, as well as the ability to overturn Supreme Court rulings by a majority of 61 votes in the 120-seat Knesset.

The reform plans sparked weeks of protests on the streets of Israeli cities, sometimes in the form of violent clashes with the police. In mid-March, Israeli President Isaac Herzog declared that the country was on the brink of civil war.

On Thursday morning, the Knesset passed a bill designed to protect Prime Minister Netanyahu from a court order to remove him from office. According to the law, only a three-quarters majority of government ministers or MPs can force the prime minister to take temporary leave, and only on health grounds.