At the heart of this week's demonstration: the Israel Bar Association vote and negotiations at the President's Residence. One activist says, 'In practice, the ones leading this protest are Netanyahu, Rothman and Levin'
Whenever prominent figures in the protests against the Israeli government’s judicial overhaul plans are asked what the demonstrations’ next phase is, they have trouble looking beyond the coming week. That has held true a number of times since the mass protests first erupted earlier this year, but this current situation has generated an unusual amount of uncertainty.
“None of us really have any idea where this is going,” admitted Roee Neuman, who has been acting as a spokesman for the movement.
Saturday evening marked the 24th week of demonstrations following Justice Minister Yariv Levin’s press conference in January, in which he laid out legislative plans to curb the independence of the country’s judiciary.
He and Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee chairman Simcha Rothman have led the overhaul’s legislative efforts – but earlier in the year, amid the huge protests, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the suspension of the legislative process and the convening of talks with the opposition. The overhaul legislation remains pending in the interim, and has not been withdrawn.
This past week, the opposition announced a suspension of the talks –which were being held under the auspices of President Isaac Herzog – after a legislative maneuver resulted in the government’s failure to elect a representative to the Judicial Appointments Committee. As a result of the vacancy, the committee cannot yet be convened.
“In practice, the ones leading this protest are Netanyahu, Rothman and Levin,” Neuman quipped. “It’s not us who are creating the energy for this protest. It’s them. We won’t be the ones to cause the next ‘Gallant night’ to occur,” he said, referring to the mass demonstration on Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street in March after Netanyahu announced the firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for opposing the government’s plan. (Netanyahu later retracted his decision).
Protest leader Shikma Bressler echoed Neuman’s sentiment, tweeting that if the legislation is passed, “we’ll meet on the streets.”
A centerpiece of Levin’s plan was to give the government control of the Judicial Appointments Committee, which up until now has been composed of government ministers, Knesset members, Supreme Court justices and representatives from the Israel Bar Association.
Pressure on the political opposition to quit the talks at the President’s Residence is not the top priority in the coming week in light of Tuesday’s vote for the leader of the Israel Bar Association. One of the candidates running is Effi Naveh, a past bar association chairman, who some see as sympathetic to the government. He insists, however, that he would be entirely independent. Some protesters are making major efforts to have one of Naveh’s opponents, Amit Becher, elected.
Concern about passage of part of the legislative package was apparent at Saturday evening’s Tel Aviv protest, where one sign read “The legislation is still here.”
The mass demonstrations on Kaplan Street, which have consistently attracted roughly 100,000 demonstrators a week, are expected to continue – at least until the end of July. If one part of the overhaul legislation is passed on a unilateral basis, meaning without a broad consensus, army reservists could again threaten not to carry out their reserve duties, said one protest movement representative.
“My assessment is that in the coming week, Rothman and Levin will introduce new bills in the committee,” Neuman said. “It’s something that Netanyahu doesn’t have control over, and if they start, it will catch fire,” he said, in apparent reference to the protests.