Israel erupts as cops use water cannons and protesters are injured in car-ramming during night of violence after Netanyahu’s hated judicial reforms were passed in parliament – as ex-PM warns of ‘civil war’
- Knesset approved first major law in Netanyahu’s contentious plan on Monday
- This has triggered condemnation and a new wave of protests across the country
Israel erupted into violence last night as police used water cannons against protesters and three people were injured when a car rammed through a crowd marching against the government’s overhaul of the country’s judicial system.
The Knesset on Monday approved the first major law in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious plan, triggering a new burst of mass demonstrations, drawing accusations that he was pushing the country toward authoritarian rule.
The vote, passed unanimously by Netanyahu’s governing coalition after the opposition stormed out of the hall, deepened the fissures that have tested the delicate social ties that bind the country, rattled the cohesion of its powerful military and repeatedly drew concern from Israel’s closest ally, the United States.
Footage showed thousands of flag-waving protesters taking to the streets, blocking highways as they marched to show their anger over the law’s passage.
Israel’s security forces responded by using water cannons to blast demonstrators in an attempt to clear them. Others were seen throwing protesters to the ground and dragging them away from the crowds.
Israel erupted into violence last night as police used water cannons against protesters and three people were injured when a car rammed through a crowd (pictured) marching against the government’s overhaul of the country’s judicial system
The Knesset on Monday approved the first major law in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ‘s contentious plan, triggering a new burst of mass demonstrations, drawing accusations that he was pushing the country toward authoritarian rule
Demonstrators gather around a bonfire as they block a highway during a protest against the Israeli government’s judicial reform plan in Tel Aviv on July 24
A protester holds a flag stained, with what he claims is blood, during a demonstration following a parliament vote on a contested bill that limits Supreme Court powers to void some government decisions, near the Knesset, Israel’s parliament in Jerusalem July 24
The government’s passage of the controversial law comes after 29 weeks of mass protests and public opposition.
The legislation prevents the courts from reviewing the ‘reasonableness’ of government and ministerial decisions – and is the first major bill of Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary to pass into law.
It came just hours after Netanyahu, 73, was released from the hospital, where he had a pacemaker implanted, adding another dizzying twist to an already dramatic series of events.
As Netanyahu’s allies celebrated their victory and vowed to press ahead with more changes, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and opponents said they would challenge the new law in the Supreme Court.
Thousands of people, many waving blue-and-white Israeli flags, gathered outside the Knesset, or parliament, and the Supreme Court, and jammed Jerusalem’s main highway. Walls and fences were plastered with stickers reading ‘we won’t serve a dictator,’ ‘democracy or rebellion’ and ‘save Israel from Netanyahu.’
Police tried to clear the crowds with water cannons spraying skunk-scented water. Many protesters put plugs in their noses or held up sprigs of rosemary plucked from nearby bushes to try to control the stench.
‘This puts us on the way to dictatorship,’ said protester Danny Kimmel, a 55-year-old program manager. ‘You don’t do this to people who are protesting. It’s their right.’
Thousands of people also demonstrated in central Tel Aviv – the epicenter of months of anti-government protests. Scuffles took place between police and protesters, with at least eight people arrested and protesters lighting bonfires.
Mounted police parted crowds, as other officers grappled with demonstrators.
One man holding an Israeli flag was seen in a video being knocked off a wall by a jet of water fired from a water cannon.
Police said they arrested a driver who hit a group of protesters in central Israel, injuring three people. Footage of the car driving into a small crowd on a highway blocked by the protesters was carried by local media.
Responding to the deepening crisis, former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert warned that the country was descending into a civil war.
‘This is a threat. This is a serious threat,’ he told Britain’s Channel 4 news. ‘It’s never happened before, and we are going into a civil war now.’
Explaining further, he said what was being seen was ‘civil disobedience with all the possible ramifications to the stability of the state and to the ability of the government to perform and to the obedience of the large part of the Israeli population, to a government which is perceived by a large part of the population to be illegitimate.
‘Government has decided to threaten the foundations of Israeli democracy and this is not something that we can accept or that we can tolerate,’ he added.
His comments were echoed by others angry at the bill’s passage.
‘It’s a sad day,’ opposition leader Yair Lapid said after the vote. ‘This is not a victory for the coalition. This is the destruction of Israeli democracy.’
The White House, which has repeatedly urged Netanyahu to pause his overhaul plan until he has a broad consensus, expressed regret. ‘It is unfortunate that the vote today took place with the slimmest possible majority,’ it said.
Demonstrators clash with Israeli riot police during a protest against the Israeli government’s judicial reform plan in Tel Aviv on July 24
Demonstrators clash with Israeli riot police during a protest against the Israeli government’s judicial reform plan in Tel Aviv on July 24
Demonstrators are sprayed with water cannons by Israeli riot police during a protest against the Israeli government’s judicial reform plan in Tel Aviv on July 24
The overhaul calls for sweeping changes aimed at curbing the powers of the judiciary, from limiting the Supreme Court’s ability to challenge parliamentary decisions to changing the way judges are selected.
Netanyahu and his allies say the changes strengthen democracy by limiting the authority of unelected judges and giving elected officials more powers over decision-making.
But protesters see the overhaul as a power grab fueled by personal and political grievances of Netanyahu – who is on trial for corruption charges – and his partners.
His allies, who include ultra-nationalist and ultra-religious parties, have called for increased West Bank settlement construction, annexation of the occupied territory, perpetuating military draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men, and limiting the rights of LGBTQ+ people and Palestinians.
Under the Israeli system, the prime minister governs through a majority coalition in parliament – in effect giving him control over the executive and legislative branches of government.
As a result, the Supreme Court plays a critical oversight role. Critics say that by seeking to weaken the judiciary, Netanyahu and his allies are trying to erode the country’s checks and balances and consolidate power over the third, independent branch of government.
In a televised address Monday night, Netanyahu rejected such criticism.
‘Today we did a necessary democratic act, an act that is intended to return a measure of balance between the branches of government,’ he said.
He vowed to seek renewed dialogue with the political opposition and called for national unity. ‘Let us reach agreements,’ he said. ‘I extend my hand in a call for peace and mutual respect between us.’
As he spoke, Israel’s Channel 13 TV showed a split screen with a police water cannon spraying crowds of protesters.
Lawmakers surround Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, at a session of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in Jerusalem, Monday, July 24
Israeli lawmakers celebrate by taking a selfie with Minister of Justice Yariv Levin, second right with glasses, after approving a key portion of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s divisive plan to reshape the country’s justice system on the floor of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in Jerusalem, Monday, July 24
In Monday’s vote, lawmakers approved a measure that prevents judges from striking down government decisions on the basis they are ‘unreasonable.’
The government’s critics say removing the standard of reasonability opens the door to corruption and improper appointments of unqualified cronies to important positions.
The Supreme Court, for instance, this year struck down Netanyahu’s appointment of a key ally for interior and finance minister as unreasonable because of past convictions for bribery and tax cheating.
With the opposition out of the hall, the measure passed by a 64-0 margin.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin, the architect of the plan, said parliament had taken the ‘first step in an important historic process.’
‘This is just the beginning,’ added National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Opposition lawmakers chanted ‘shame’ and ‘government of destruction’ before leaving the chamber.
The chant was a reference to the upcoming Jewish day of mourning, the Ninth of Av, which marks the destruction of two ancient Temples in Jerusalem.
According to Jewish tradition, the Roman Empire succeeded in destroying the Second Temple because of Jewish infighting.
The grassroots protest movement, which has regularly drawn tens of thousands of people into the streets for the past seven months, condemned Monday’s vote by Netanyahu’s ‘government of extremists’ and vowed to press ahead.
‘No one can predict the extent of damage and social upheaval that will follow the passage of the legislation,’ it said.
Protesters hug each other as they demonstrate, following a parliament vote on a contested bill that limits Supreme Court powers, in Jerusalem July 24
Protesters wave Israeli flags as they block a road that leads to the Prime Minister’s office at a demonstration following the vote on a contested bill, in Jerusalem July 24
Protesters hold up a large Israeli flag at a demonstration in Jerusalem July 24
The overhaul has exposed deep divisions in Israeli society – much of it along religious, ethnic and class lines.
While protesters represent a cross section of society, they come largely from the country’s secular middle class, while Netanyahu’s supporters tend to be poorer, more religious and live in West Bank settlements or outlying rural areas.
Many of his supporters are working-class Mizrahi Jews, with roots in Middle Eastern countries, and have expressed hostility toward what they say is an elitist class of Ashkenazi, or European, Jews.
Israel’s Palestinian Arab minority has largely stayed away from the protests, with many saying they do not feel like they have a stake.
The protests have largely avoided Israel’s 56-year occupation of lands the Palestinians seek for their hoped-for-independent state, fearing the issue might alienate supporters. Critics accuse the protesters of harboring a significant blind spot.
Further ratcheting up the pressure on Netanyahu, thousands of military reservists have declared their refusal to serve under a government they see as setting the country on a path to dictatorship – prompting fears that the military’s preparedness could be compromised.
In his address, Netanyahu urged reservists to continue to serve and ‘leave army service out of the political debate.’
Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank, said Monday’s vote had exposed long-running weaknesses in Israel’s system of government.
‘The immediate outcome will be to escalate internal divisions within Israeli society and undermine Israeli security,’ he said.
Increased uncertainty, he added, ‘will also have a negative economic impact.’
It passage of the bill came as Israeli troops killed three Palestinians in the West Bank city of Nablus on Tuesday, the Palestinian health ministry said.
‘Three Palestinians have been killed by Israeli bullets in Nablus,’ the ministry said, adding the identities of those killed were still unknown.
The Israeli army said three ‘armed terrorists’ had opened fire on its soldiers from a vehicle in a Nablus neighbourhood and the troops fired back ‘to neutralise’ them.
The soldiers recovered three M-16 rifles, a gun, cartridges and other military equipment, the army said in a statement.
The deaths are the latest in a surge of violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since the Six-Day War of 1967.
Since early last year, the territory has seen a string of attacks by Palestinians on Israeli targets, as well as violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities.
Israeli police intervene with protesters in Jerusalem, July 24
Demonstrators are sprayed with water cannons by Israeli riot police during a protest against the Israeli government’s judicial reform plan in Tel Aviv on July 24
Israeli police intervene during protests against the approval of the judiciary bill in Jerusalem on July 24
Further questions were raised over the government as Netanyahu was released from the hospital, raising questions over its leader’s health.
After undergoing emergency surgery to implant a pacemaker,he made a video appearance from a hospital near Tel Aviv. Wearing a crisp dark suit, he grinned and declared energetically that he felt ‘great, as you can see.’
But the Sunday photo-op failed to reassure Israelis, who were shocked to learn the same day that their longest-serving prime minister had concealed a long-known heart problem.
The admission was a stark contrast to the image of a fully healthy, energetic leader that Netanyahu has gone to great lengths to bolster.
A week after a fainting spell, Netanyahu was urgently fitted with a pacemaker to control his heartbeat.
Only then did staff at the Sheba Medical Center reveal Sunday night that Netanyahu has for years experienced a condition that can cause irregular heartbeats.
Until Sunday, the cardiologists had publicly played down concerns, saying the prime minister was dehydrated and describing his heartbeat as ‘completely normal.’
The news about a chronic heart problem – offered up in a seemingly backhanded way – stoked further anger and distrust at a time of extreme political polarization in Israel.
‘The factory of lies surrounding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hospitalization continued like an episode of a sitcom,’ Yossi Verter, a political writer for Israel’s left-leaning daily Haaretz, wrote on Monday.
The health crisis, he added, ‘illustrates more than anything the culture of deceit in which Netanyahu, his ministers and advisers run the country.’
Because illnesses can damage a ruler’s carefully maintained veneer of invincibility, strongmen around the world often obfuscate their medical history.
In Israel, the emergency pacemaker surgery marked the latest twist for Netanyahu, who is currently fighting a litany of bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges – a case that has driven Israelis to exhaustion with five elections in four years.
Fueling longstanding accusations that Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are out of touch with ordinary Israelis, Israeli media reported Monday that his pacemaker cost five times more than a typical model and was not covered by health insurance, citing Medtronic, the manufacturer.
But worrying critics most has been the hospital’s contradictory assessments of Netanyahu’s health and a wider lack of government transparency.
Demonstrators gather before a bonfire as they block a highway during a protest rally against the Israeli government’s judicial reform plan in Tel Aviv on July 24
Demonstrators are sprayed with water cannons by Israeli riot police during a protest against the Israeli government’s judicial reform plan in Tel Aviv on July 24
Demonstrators stand between traffic as they block a highway during a protest rally against the Israeli government’s judicial reform plan in Tel Aviv on July 24
‘You can’t ask for public trust if you don’t tell the public the whole picture, and it’s especially important when you talk about a leader’s medical condition,’ said Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank.
Netanyahu’s health saga started last week, after a scorching day spent on a boat in the Sea of Galilee with his family. On Saturday, July 15, Netanyahu was admitted to Sheba hospital after feeling mild dizziness.
The next day, he underwent heart tests, which the prime minister’s office said had all come back clear. Dr. Amit Segev, the director of the hospitals’ cardiology unit, said Netanyahu was fitted with a heart monitor as a purely routine measure ‘to continue regular monitoring.’
‘His heart is completely normal, without any evidence (to the contrary),’ Segev announced that Sunday.
But a full week later, last Saturday, Netanyahu was rushed to the hospital for sudden surgery to receive a pacemaker.
In a video statement, Dr. Eyal Nof said that the heart monitor had sounded an alert late Saturday after detecting a condition called heart block.
The electrical signals that trigger a heartbeat begin in the top of the heart, but during heart block they have trouble reaching the heart’s pumping chambers at the bottom. Slow heartbeats, skipped beats and fainting are symptoms. A pacemaker usually controls the disorder but untreated cases can lead to cardiac arrest.
The doctors’ delayed acknowledgment of Netanyahu’s condition sparked intense public criticism. Sheba Medical Center declined to comment on the mixed messages.
A person familiar with Netanyahu’s treatment, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, said the hospital was under ‘strict orders’ not to disclose Netanyahu’s condition last week.
‘This is a disaster: The doctors knew about his medical condition and lied to the people,’ said Eliad Shraga, Chairman of the Movement for Quality Governance in Israel, a civil society group. ‘If he is not in fit and proper condition maybe he is not fit to run a nation in such a crisis.’
Netanyahu has not commented on his condition beyond his two upbeat videos released from the hospital, in which he declared feeling ‘excellent’ and ready to carry out business as usual.
In the face of mounting political crises, Netanyahu has carefully crafted an appearance of omnipotence, campaigning on his insistence that only he is capable of leading the tiny country.
During his 15 years in power, his good health has largely gone unquestioned.
His father, Benzion, died at the age of 102, lending weight to his family’s claims of vigorous health and vitality.
News of Netanyahu’s ailments could jeopardize the personal charisma that has been so critical to his political staying power, experts say.
‘He feels that he’s above the law and above nature,’ said Altshuler.
Netanyahu appeared shaky at times during the legislative sessions on Monday just hours after his release from the hospital, his eyes sunken, but he soldiered on.
Although Israeli government protocol requires that prime ministers release annual medical reports, Netanyahu has not published one since 2016.
Demonstrators are sprayed with water cannons by Israeli riot police during a protest against the Israeli government’s judicial reform plan in Tel Aviv on July 24
Demonstrators are sprayed with water cannons by Israeli riot police during a protest against the Israeli government’s judicial reform plan in Tel Aviv on July 24
Riot police tries to clear demonstrators with a water canon during a protest against plans by Netanyahu’s government to overhaul the judicial system, in Tel Aviv, Monday, July 24
That report declared his lab tests ‘completely normal’ and his overall health ‘excellent,’ only mentioning that a polyp had been removed from his large intestine.
In 2018, Netanyahu was briefly hospitalized after suffering from a fever.
Because the protocol is legally unenforceable, Netanyahu has had few other recorded health scares.
But last October, he was rushed to a hospital for examination after feeling pains in his chest during his election campaign. He went jogging in a park the next morning, a display of physical fitness made for the cameras.
Source: Read Full Article
