Protesters attempt to break into Knesset as debate begins

Yesh Atid MK Ram Ben Barak said in his speech in the Knesset plenum that "the Nazis came to power in a democratic way in Germany as well," during the debate ahead of the first  vote on the judicial reforms.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu condemned his remarks, saying: "The opposition has gone off the rails: Ram Ben Barak shamefully and scandalously compares the Israeli government to the Nazis. The protest leaders tried to imprison coalition members in their homes. Members of the opposition desecrated the Israeli flag in the Knesset plenum. The opposition has gone off the rails - we continue!"

A group of protesters attempted to break through the barricades in front of the Knesset building on Monday evening, just as the debate around the judicial reforms was scheduled to start inside the plenum. They were prevented from breaking through by police forces, KAN News reported.

Meanwhile, inside the Knesset, security guards forcibly removed protesters from the plenum observation gallery, after they entered it illegally and beat against the glass walls separating them from the plenary area.

The judicial overhaul plan that the Knesset is slated to initially approve Monday won’t harm Israeli security or its alliance with the United States, according to National Security Advisor Tzachi HaNegbi. 

“The purpose is to bring more balance to the [different] branches [of government] so I do not think it will create any problem,” HaNegbi said in an interview with Jerusalem Post Editor-in-Chief Yaakov Katz.

Hanegbi threw his support behind the plan which opponents have warned could weaken Israel’s democracy. Western allies including French President Emmanuel Macron, US President Joe Biden and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken have expressed their concern.

HaNegbi said that he believed there was a need for a judicial overhaul plan, noting that during his 32 years as both a a minister and a member of the Knesset, he had witnessed a change in the balance of power between the different branches of government.

Israel's opposition MKs draped Israeli flags around themselves inside the Knesset plenum on Monday evening as the debate on the judicial reform bill was set to begin.

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana responded to the move, saying they were "disrespecting the flag."

Opposition MKs don Israeli flags in the Knesset Plenum ahead of the first vote on the judicial reform bill, February 20, 2023. (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

The leaders of the protests against the government's proposed judicial reforms are trampling democracy by not allowing Israel's elected representatives carry out their policy, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed in a statement to the press ahead of his Likud Party's weekly faction meeting on Monday.

"They do not accept the outcome of the election, they do not accept the majority's decision, they do not condemn calls to kill the prime minister and his family, they block roads and call for civil disobedience, they call without shame for a civil war and for blood in the streets, they threaten Knesset members aggressively," Netanyahu said.

Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beytenu party announced on Monday that it will boycott the Knesset vote on the first reading of the judicial reform.

Among the thousands of protestors who went out to demonstrate against the judicial reform on Monday were many children who expressed concern about the reform's consequences on their future.

"There are laws that we don't agree with because they destroy the country and harm people, said nine-year-old Shay Goldman from Holon who attended the protest in Tel Aviv with his mother and older brother. "These are laws with which you can do bad things. I'm a little worried. I want to live in Israel when I grow up."

"I want to live in Israel when I grow up."

Shay Goldman

Who will take care of our rights?

Noa, aged 14 from Binyamina, attended the Tel Aviv protest with her five friends and from there, they continued to Jerusalem. 

"I went to a talk where a law professor spoke," she said. "I understood that the reform will harm the separation of authorities and democracy. No one will worry about my rights. The country will become a dictatorship. I want to tell the government that people care, and I want to grow up in a country where I can do anything and be taken care of."

The LGBTQ+ community is worried

Jay, aged 15, came to the protest from Givat Ada.

Protestors demonstrate against the judicial reform in Tel aviv, Monday, February 20. (credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIV)

"I'm scared of the future here, they want to take the power away from the High Court of Justice."

Jay

"I'm trans and gay," he said. "If they pass the [reform, I will be harmed. And of course, it's not stable for the country. It's inconceivable that criminals will have power. You cannot manage justice and politics together. I'm scared of the future here, they want to take the power away from the High Court of Justice."

Israel Police removed the protestors blocking roads in Tel Aviv, and traffic can now move freely.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir criticized the police for letting protestors block roads and intersections on Monday.

"Freedom of speech - yes, anarchy - no. We have to maintain the flow of life and not allow anarchists to paralyze the country."

MK Benny Gantz urged the coalition to stall the vote on the judicial reform on Monday.

"Today in the Knesset, we go to a first vote, but it will be the first tear in Israeli society that we'll struggle to find a way back from it as a democratic and Jewish state," he said. "It will do critical damage to the string that connects us and to Israeli sturdiness."