legend:
Netanyahu said in a video message that he was fine.
Keystone/Sebastian Shiner (archive)
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be given a pacemaker ahead of a crucial vote in parliament on the planned restructuring of the judiciary.
- According to Netanyahu, he should be discharged from the hospital this afternoon.
- Deliberation on the bill begins at 09:00 (CEST).
- Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands across the country are protesting against the planned judicial reform. Citizens, guilds and the army formed the resistance.
“I am doing very well, but I am listening to my doctors,” Netanyahu said in a video message. Cardiac monitoring showed that immediate surgery was necessary. This is to take place at Sheba Clinic near Tel Aviv, news agencies reported.
I’m in my best state.
Netanyahu was unexpectedly hospitalized last weekend. At that time, it was said that he had been in the sun for a long time without water and a hat. Then his condition was monitored.
Deliberations on the controversial judicial restructuring begin today
Netanyahu’s right-wing religious government wants to present a key part of its controversial plans to restructure the parliament’s judiciary in Jerusalem today. Deliberation on the bill begins at 09:00 (CEST). A final vote is not expected until Monday afternoon at the earliest.
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets on Saturday to protest the planned weakening of the judiciary. According to Channel 13 estimates, some 170,000 people gathered in the coastal city center of Tel Aviv and 85,000 in Jerusalem. According to media reports, there were occasional violent clashes with the police. Many protesters have been arrested.
legend:
According to media reports, some 170,000 people demonstrated in Tel Aviv and 85,000 in Jerusalem against the government’s plan to restructure the judiciary.
Reuters/Corina Kern
Half a million in resistance?
Protest organizers estimated the number of participants across the country at more than half a million. This will be one of the largest days of protest since the demonstrations began in early January. The population of Israel is about 10 million people.
For more than six months, the planned restructuring of the judiciary has divided large sectors of Israeli society. Protest signs in Tel Aviv read, for example, “Netanyahu is the enemy of democracy” or “Save our homeland.” Many Israelis in the capital fear that Israel could change drastically with the legislative package.
Call for a general strike
Thousands also marched to the headquarters of the Labor Confederation (Histadrut) in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, demanding that a general strike be called. Meanwhile, Histadrut chairman Arnon Bar-David held consultations on how to proceed.
The Histadrut, which has 800,000 members, called a general strike at the end of March over Netanyahu’s dismissal of Galant. The defense minister had previously publicly criticized the approach to restructuring the judiciary. Netanyahu then put the plans on hold, and Gallant’s dismissal was later overturned.
The Bar Association wants to take action against the law
The law should no longer allow the country’s highest court to assess the decision of the government or individual ministers as “inappropriate”. Critics fear that this will encourage corruption and thus the arbitrary filling of important positions and layoffs. On the other hand, the Netanyahu government accuses the judiciary of excessive interference in political decisions.
The head of the Bar Association, Amit Becher, announced in Jerusalem that he would take action if the law was passed. “If the government raises the sufficiency standard on Monday, we will petition the Supreme Court on Tuesday.”
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