The “March of the Million” rally in the evening of Israel’s Independence Day on May 27 gathered an estimated 600,000 supporters of PM Benyamin Netanyahu and the current government’s proposed judicial reform. This rally outside of the Parliament (Knesset) was much larger than the left-wing opposition’s events for the past seventeen weeks. In his Twitter post in the same day, Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his thanks by stating, “I thank the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who came to Jerusalem tonight to support our government. Your passion and patriotism move me deeply.”
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis gathered in Jerusalem on April 27 to support the PM and the governm
2022 election, the Prime Minister saw that he had received a mandate for the needed judicial reform. The proposed reform has four parts: the override clause, removing the reasonability test; appointing judges; and legal advisers. The government’s plan would weaken Israel’s Supreme Court by limiting its power to review laws and strike them down. The appointment of judges by the ruling (right-wing) government has angered the opposition. The Knesset is scheduled to vote for it.
The Prime Minister has argued that “The balance between the branches in the governmental system has been violated over the last two decades and even more so in the recent years. One thing I am not willing to accept is a minority of extremists that are willing to tear our country to shreds…escorting us to civil war and calling for refusal of army service, which is a terrible crime.” Parts of the military have joined the protests, refusing to show up for reserve duty and are vowing not to serve if the reform plan is approved. As the protests continue, the Prime Minister has paused the reform plans to avoid further civil unrest.
Knesset, the center of the public rallies and protests