Thousands of Israelis blocked major highways across central Israel and held dozens of rallies on Tuesday to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to finalize a law next week limiting the Supreme Court’s powers.
Despite temperatures exceeding 90 degrees Fahrenheit in some places, protesters marched through several cities in a renewed effort to prevent a vote on the law in parliament from going ahead, which is likely on Monday.
Some held huge roadside banners reading “Netanyahu will divide the nation,” while others displayed a giant picture of Theodor Herzl, the founding father of modern Zionism, with the slogan “This is not my intention.”
One group hung a giant version of the Israeli Declaration of Independence from a highway overpass, and another blocked the doors to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Women’s rights activists – dressed in crimson robes inspired by characters from “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a television series about a patriarchal, totalitarian state made into a television series – held a rally in Ra’anana, central Israel.
By mid-afternoon, police said 17 protesters had been arrested for disturbing public order.
Protesters fear the law will weaken democracy by reducing judicial oversight over the cabinet, allow more government overreach and lead to a more conservative, religious and patriarchal society. Mr. Netanyahu’s government says.
The protests came hours after President Biden invited Mr Netanyahu to a meeting in the United States in the coming months, months after Mr Biden said he would not meet the prime minister “in the near term”.
A date for the meeting was not set and the proposal was shelved without an invitation to the White House. But the news was still a blow to protesters, who had expected Mr. Biden to use his influence over Mr. Netanyahu to persuade him to suspend the legislative process.
The US government is a key ally of Israel, providing it with nearly $4 billion in annual aid, as well as arms and defense systems and systematic diplomatic protection at the United Nations Security Council.
Mr. Biden is set to welcome Israeli President Isaac Herzog to the White House on Tuesday, another sign of strong US-Israel ties.
In the absence of further US intervention, Mr. Trying to put domestic pressure on Netanyahu. Thousands of members of the Israeli military reserve have threatened to withdraw from volunteer duty if the law goes ahead – which could affect the operational capacity of key military sectors, particularly the air force, which relies heavily on reserve pilots.
Israel’s main labor union, the Histadrut, says it may organize a general strike to protest the law, a move that helped suspend an earlier legislative push in March.
But the union is yet to officially confirm its position. To pressure them to join their cause, some protesters rallied outside the Histadrut headquarters in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
Gabby Sobelman Contributed reporting from Rehovot, Israel.
