Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets on Saturday night to protest against the country’s hardline new government and plans to impose judicial powers.
Police estimated around 80,000 people took part in the biggest demonstration yet in the liberal stronghold of Tel Aviv, where demonstrators chanted “no democracy without a Supreme Court” and waved placards with slogans such as “Save Israel”.
Smaller protests were also held outside the presidential palace in Jerusalem, and in the northern city of Haifa.
The demonstration was the biggest show of public protest since Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power last month as head of the coalition considered the most right-wing in Israel’s history.
The new government, which combines Netanyahu’s Likud with two ultra-orthodox groups and three far-right parties, has made the overhaul of the country’s judiciary one of its main goals.
Earlier this month, the justice minister, Yariv Levin, proposed changes that would give the government and its allies control over the appointment of judges, and allow a simple parliamentary majority to override Supreme Court decisions to strike down the law.
Israel’s right-wing parties have long demanded an overhaul of the court, arguing that the highest court has become activist over the past three decades, and is using powers it has never been formally granted to push a left-wing agenda.
However, the government’s proposals have raised alarm among liberal and centrist Israelis, who see it as a politically motivated attack on Israel’s checks and balances that will undermine minority protections and fuel corruption.
Esther Hayut, the president of Israel’s highest court, said on Thursday that the changes would undermine the independence of the judiciary, and give parliament a “blank check” to pass laws it wants, even if they violate basic civil rights.
“[If the changes are implemented] The 75th anniversary of Israel’s independence will be remembered as the year in which the country’s democratic identity was dealt a fatal blow,” he said.
Protesters who took part in Habima Square in downtown Tel Aviv on Saturday night, despite heavy rain, expressed similar concerns. “If there is none [checks and balances], we can even end up like Hungary or other places where democracy is dead. So it has to stop now, before it’s too late,” said Eran, a middle-aged Tel Avivian who joined the protest with his wife Ilana.
“We have to keep Israel as a normal country so that the rest of the world can still talk to us. [If these judicial reforms are passed] the world will see us like a crazy country. . . We want to be a free country where you can dress what you want and say what you want.
Omer, who joined the protest with his partner and three-month-old son, said he decided to take part because he was worried the government’s plan would undermine democracy.
“If the law is passed, the government will have the ability to destroy and remove these parts [of the political spectrum] who are not in the coalition,” he said. “They have to work for the whole country, not just for themselves.”
Government officials sought to play down the significance of the protests, insisting they would not stand in the way of the program.
“Tens of thousands of people in the demonstration tonight. In the elections held here two and a half months ago, millions happened,” wrote the minister of culture and sports, Miki Zohar, on Twitter.
“We promised the people change, we promised government, we promised reform – and we will do those things.”