TENS of thousands of Israelis are protesting against the government’s plan to pass a judicial reform bill that they say threatens democracy.
Demonstrators from across Israel descended on Jerusalem on Monday to rally near the Knesset for a second straight week ahead of the first reading of the legislation to change the way judges are picked.
Many critics say it will upend the country’s system of checks and balances and concentrate power in the hands of the prime minister. They also say that Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister who is on trial on corruption charges, has a conflict of interest.
Protesters accuse the government of a power grab, and weekly protests in Tel Aviv since early January have drawn tens of thousands of people.
The government – the most right-wing in Israel’s history – is forging ahead with the plan despite the unprecedented demonstrations, warnings from military and business leaders, and calls for restraint by the United States.
In Jerusalem, police officers manned barriers to prevent protesters, many waving Israeli flags, from reaching parliament. In Tel Aviv, police said officers arrested eight demonstrators for breaching public order and disobeying instructions.
“This isn’t a small change to a piece of legislation,” Tamara Newman, director of international relations at the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, told Al Jazeera. “It’s a complete judicial overhaul to dramatically weaken the court system in Israel, whose role is to be a check and balance on the government.”
“This government will have absolute power,” she said. “The government can then pass any law.”
The bill would give elected representatives more control of the judicial system by giving the government a de facto majority in the process to nominate judges.
Currently, jurists are chosen by a panel overseen by the justice minister. It includes judges, lawmakers and lawyers representing the Israeli Bar Association.
