Israel commemorated last week its establishment in 1948 as an independent state but demonstrations for and against the government’s controversial judicial reform were resumed immediately afterwards for the 17th week in a row.
According to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, the country's population numbers now 9.727 million people, thereof 73.5 % Jews and 21% Palestinian Arabs. Some 5 % are registered as ‘other’. Palestinians in East Jerusalem and Jewish settlers in the West Bank are included in the total figure. The population increased by 2.3 % since last year.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted a congratulation message to Israel celebrating ‘75 years of Israel’s independence and friendship with Europe’. Among others, she referred to Israel’s ‘vibrant democracy’ and the ‘shared values’ with the EU. "Europe and Israel are bound to be friends and allies,” she wrote. “Your freedom is our freedom.”
The festivities on Independence Day followed the Memorial Day in memory of the over 24,000 soldiers who have fallen since 1860. Sirens were sounded all over the country bringing traffic to a halt but the deep gap over the proposed judicial reform cast a shadow at some of the military cemeteries where government politicians insisted to speak despite the protests of mourning families.
The main event on Independence Day was the torch-lighting ceremony in Jerusalem where outstanding citizens were honored for their achievements to Israeli society. Although well-choreographed, the speeches about national unity sounded fake this year. Israel may have been built up in unity but the government’s attempt to change the basic rules of democracy is a far cry from doing things ‘together’.
The legislation process on the judicial reform has been suspended while talks are going on between representatives of the government and the opposition under the aegis of President Isaac Herzog to find a constitutional solution which is acceptable to both sides.
In his messages on Independence Day, the President continued to express cautious optimism that the talks will succeed, warning that the “democratic pillars on which Israel rests must never be taken for granted and must always be defended”.
“Debate and disagreement in a democracy are not only natural,” he said. “The fact that, as we mark 75, Israelis are fiercely debating fundamental questions about our system of checks and balances demonstrates that our democratic discourse is vibrant and that our citizens are fully engaged.”
“I have been working around the clock to facilitate dialogue that can help us reach broad national consensus on these critical questions,” he added. “I am driven by the firm belief that with goodwill and a willingness to engage in honest dialogue, our democracy can emerge from this reckoning stronger than ever.”
This did not prevent the far-right ministers in the coalition government to organize a rally on Thursday evening to mobilize support for the judicial reform and put pressure on prime-minister Benjamin Netanyahu to go ahead with the reform. The rally gathered around 200,000 persons and were stained by scenes showing demonstrators trampling on pictures of former and current supreme court judges.
In response, the anti-reform demonstrations gained traction again on Saturday evening with mass demonstrations gathering 300,000 people across the country under slogans such as ‘free in our country’ (referring to Israel’s national hymn) and ‘freedom, peace, justice, equality’. The slogan ‘no democracy with occupation’ could also be seen.
The demonstrations are planned to continue as before Independence Day with “days of disruption” against law proposals that the government might push for despite the temporary suspension of the overall judicial reform.
The government with its thin majority of 64 mandates of 120 continues to claim that is has a right to change the rule of law system in Israel and that a majority of voters still supports it. In fact, the details of the reform were not presented before the elections. Today a majority of the population, incl. those who voted for Netanyahu and his government, wants the reform to be definitely shelved.
The proposed judicial reform has already had a negative impact on Israel’s economy and military deterrence. According to the latest opinion polls, the opposition would gain a majority in the parliament if elections were held today. Next hurdle for the government is passing the state budget before the end of May – if not the parliament will be dissolved and new elections will take place.
M. Apelblat
The Brussels Times
