Thousands rally in Tel Aviv to protect Israel from turning into ‘Netanyahu state’

Andrew Cheetham 22 April 2018

'Alarmed and angered by a draft bill that would strip Israel’s Supreme Court of the power to overturn laws, thousands of activists have staged a protest in Tel Aviv, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a power grab.

Chanting slogans against the Israeli PM, hundreds of anti-government activists marched down the streets of Tel Aviv holding banners. “'Bibi take your hands off the supreme court', 'Corrupted, you don't have a mandate' and 'Bibi, organized crime, leave the supreme court alone',” they shouted.

The Knesset’s next parliamentary session, which starts on April 29, will debate and vote on the bill, designed to curb the High Court’s power. If adopted, the bill, based on the so-called ‘British model’, would allow only the Israeli parliament to cancel or change laws, limiting the Supreme Court's power to override the Knesset in approving legislation that could potentially be unconstitutional.

Opponents of the initiative see the new bill as an infringement on their guaranteed rights, and as a potential power grab by the Prime Minister.

The Supreme Court is the “last place laws and regulation can be stopped, the ones which Netanyahu is trying to pass in order to make this country a 'Netanyahu' state,'” Tom Tzoker told RT's Ruptly video agency at the rally. “I hope we will live in a better country, one that supports its residents.”

“Today I'm especially concerned, we are talking about a new law, that means the supreme court will not be able to tell the parliament that a law is illegal,” Hani German

added. “I'm also concerned about the democracy that is getting weaker.”'