Anti-overhaul protest to shift from 'disruption' to 'paralysis': Media

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli media
16 Jul 2023 11:03

Israeli media say organizers of the protests in "Israel" are planning continuous activities starting from the "day of disruption" on Tuesday until next Monday.

Israelis protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul the judicial system in Tel Aviv, July 15, 2023 (AP)

Israeli media reported about the plans that Israeli settlers intend to carry out next week, which will shift from "disruption" to "paralysis", in the hope of increasing pressure on the Israeli government to halt the judicial overhaul that it intends to approve.

The Israeli news website Haaretz said, "The planned measures include increasing the number of military reservists who will stop showing up for service and using pressure from large corporations and trade unions to bring the economy to a halt."

The news website indicated that the organizers of the protests are planning continuous activities starting from the so-called "day of disruption" on Tuesday until next Monday, when the Israeli Knesset may hold the second and third votes on the reasonableness standard bill -- a bill intended at barring judges from dismissing or debating government and ministerial actions based on their "reasonableness". The coalition of Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hopes to have the bill signed into law by the end of the month.

It added that "protest leaders are expected to meet early this week with senior figures in the economy over a shutdown, and they plan to increase the pressure on the chair of the Histadrut labor federation, Arnon Bar David."

Haaretz quoted a protest organizer as saying that starting Tuesday, the protests will slow "Israel" down, and from Thursday "we’ll move toward a total strike ahead of the third" Knesset vote on the reasonableness standard bill.

According to the news website, the organizers of the protests planned "targeted but mass actions" for Tuesday, similar to a demonstration that roamed the occupied city of Haifa last week, which witnessed blocking roads in the morning and a protest outside government headquarters in the evening.

On Wednesday and Thursday, protests are planned outside the homes of MKs and Histadrut chair Bar David, as well as marches and protests in several other occupied Palestinian cities, Haaretz mentioned.

In a related context, Haaretz reported that proponents of the reasonableness standard bill plan to demonstrate in "Tel Aviv" next Sunday, adding that the organizers of the protests are set to stage a counter-demonstration in response.

"Staff at protest headquarters are also preparing for the possibility that the legislative schedule may be delayed, in which case some of the planned actions for the coming week may be postponed. In any case, the demonstrations are expected to continue even if the law passes," the news website pointed out.

On Saturday, Israelis have taken to the streets for the 28th consecutive week to protest the proposed judicial overhaul.

Thousands of settlers took to the streets in numerous occupied Palestinian cities, with the Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth news website reporting that there were as many as 100,000 settlers in "Tel Aviv" alone, and Walla! saying there were 20,000 in occupied Haifa.

Hours before the start of the demonstrations, Israeli media reported that 170 reservists in the occupation army's top special forces unit, Sayeret Matkal, announced that they would no longer show up for service.

In addition, 106 reserve pilots in non-combat posts announced that they would stop showing up for service for the same reason, as per Kan news.