Published: 28 March 2023
Last updated: 5 March 2024
Massive protests and a historic general strike rocked Israel in last ditch stand against judicial override.
Israel was in chaos on Monday as an unprecedented general strike was called to protest judicial overhaul.
As the country waited for Prime Minister Netanyahu to finally call a pause to the judicial override legislation late on Monday, streets were in uproar but businesses and and public services went quiet.
The last ditch attempt to stop the judicial override legislation came after Defence Minister Yoav Gallant called on Netanyahu to freeze the legislation on Sunday, on the grounds that the divisions in Israeli society had become a threat to national security.
Secular and Left-wing demonstrators who have been on the streets for weeks were astonished to find themselves protesting alongside pro-military supporters of Gallant, a former general and declared Right-winger. Netanyahu sacked Gallant but was forced to back down late on Monday and announced a pause on the legislation.
Massive protests were held on the Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, at the Knesset and outside Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem, with additional protests in Beersheva and Haifa.
Right-wing supporters of judicial override also took to the streets. There were isolated cases of violence. In one incident, a motorist appeared to attempt to run over anti-overhaul protestors on Yigal Alon Street in Tel Aviv.
There were also calls on Right-wing WhatsApp groups for activists to take up arms – 'tractors, guns, knives' – and attack anti-government protesters.
The head of the Histadrut labor federation declared a “historic” labor strike in an attempt to “stop the madness” of the government’s controversial judicial overhaul.
“We are all worried about Israel’s fate,” Histadrut chief Arnon Bar-David said during a press conference alongside business leaders and public officials. “Together we say, enough!”
The Medical Association shut down the healthcare system, closing all public hospitals and community clinics except for life-saving treatments and services. Workers at Ben Gurion Airport stopped all departures. Universities cancelled classes. The high tech industry was completely closed.
Dozens of local government leaders began a hunger strike in front of the prime minister's residence.
A prominent lawyer on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s legal defence team Boaz Ben Zur said he will stop representing the PM in his corruption trial unless the government halts its planned overhaul of the judicial system.
Even the musicians of the Israel philharmonic abandoned rehearsals to play Hatkiva at the street protests.
READ MORE
PM warns against violence amid huge rallies, push for right-wing counterprotest (Times of Israel)
Israel's Workers' Union launches widespread strike (Jerusalem Post)
Photo: Protesters gather outside the Knesset. The central poster reads "Enough" (EPA/ABIR SULTAN)
