“Israeli” Protest Leaders Vow Intensified Disobedience If Overhaul Push Restarts

By Staff, Agencies

Leaders of the protest movement against the government’s judicial overhaul have threatened to deploy new forms of disobedience if lawmakers move to swiftly advance the legislation, highlighting rampant doubts around talks to reach compromise on the sweeping reforms.

Organizers have continued to express heavy skepticism toward the negotiations between Yesh Atid and National Unity on one side and the ruling coalition on the other, under the auspices of the “Israeli” entity’s President Isaac Herzog. They allege the talks are a ruse to quell the protest movement and advance the legislation quietly.

While large-scale rallies against the legislation have taken a breather over the Passover holiday, activity is set to ramp up once again now that Passover has ended, protest leaders say, with mass demonstrations around the country scheduled for a 15^th successive Saturday night.

Smaller demonstrations at the homes of key politicians from both the coalition and opposition, including National Unity leader Benny Gantz, are being arranged for Friday.

“Israeli” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed in late March to call a timeout on advancing legislation that would give the government almost complete control over almost all judicial appointments to the so-called “Supreme Court” and other courts, along with other parts of the judicial package. The month-long suspension was announced after weeks of intensifying protests had brought the country practically to a standstill.

Opponents worry that the judicial appointments bill, which had advanced to its last two Knesset votes before the freeze was announced, could go before the Knesset plenum for final approval at a moment’s notice once the Knesset returns from its Passover recess at the end of the month.

Proponents of the government’s overhaul plans say reforms are needed to rein in politically motivated judicial activism.

Ziv Keinan, one of the founding members of the Kumi “Israel” [Arise “Israel”] organization, claimed Thursday that lawmakers had used the freeze to plot how to advance the legislation rather than negotiate it being watered down, meaning protesters would be needed “on the ground” to “deliver the message that we won’t allow our democracy to be turned into a dictatorship.”

“People will fight in the streets for democracy at any price,” said Keinan, whose group has been a key organizer in the anti-government demonstrations. “We have a massive arsenal of tools [for civil disobedience] with which we intend to intensify the protest if necessary.”

Keinan would not detail the new types of civil disobedience, but said that “What has been seen until now is the tip of the iceberg.”

One of the major forms of non-violent disobedience used so far has been to block major highways and junctions around the country, causing severe traffic jams and leading to confrontations with the police who have used water cannons and stun grenades to disperse protestors.

On Friday, several protests are scheduled to be held outside the houses of politicians from the coalition and opposition deemed by the protest movement to be critical in stopping the legislation.

One demonstration will be held outside Gantz’s home in Rosh Ha’ayin, with social media invitations to the event declaring that the former defense minister “has no mandate to compromise on democracy” and telling him not to be “the weak link.”

Other protests will be held outside the home of Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana as well as six cabinet ministers, including the entity’s Economy Minister Nir Barkat, Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter, Education Minister Yoav Kisch, “Justice” Minister Yariv Levin, Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman, and Diaspora Affairs and Social Equality Minister Amichai Chikli.

And a major demonstration will be held for the fifteenth week in a row on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv, along with other protests at 150 locations around the country.

Speakers at the demonstration in Tel Aviv will include prominent protest leader Shikma Bressler, as well as former chief of staff of the “Israel” Occupation Forces [IOF] Dan Halutz.