Former right-wing MKs and other prominent figures from the Israeli Right announced on Wednesday that they will be holding a demonstration on Saturday evening against the government's proposed judicial reform.
The demonstration, which will be held in Jerusalem's Bell Park, will be held under the slogan "We are brothers. Dialogue now! Say no to civil war."
"There is a responsible Right. No one has the mandate to tear apart the nation."
Protest announcement
"There is a responsible Right. No one has the mandate to tear apart the nation," the protest announcement read.
Former communications minister and New Hope MK Yoaz Hendel is the central figure promoting the demonstration. Other figures likely to appear include former Likud MK Limor Livnat, former Yamina MK Nir Orbach, and other prominent figures from politics, the defense establishment, rabbis and more, Hendel said to The Jerusalem Post.
What do the protesters want?
From Hendel's perspective, the protest would call on the coalition and opposition to accept President Isaac Herzog's proposal from Sunday night, which includes freezing all legislative processes in order to hold negotiations based on a plan that includes legislating a Basic Law: Legislation in or to regulate the status of basic laws; reforming the system so that it is not overburdened; and others.
But the details don’t matter as much to the general public, Hendel said. What matters is that there remains a balance of powers between the government's branches.
"This is a national psychological occurrence," he opined. "There is a large populace that feels that a coalition including haredim and far-right elements is taking over both on matters of religion and state and on the idea of democracy itself.
"But being right-wing is not just the wholeness of the land [of Israel] or security … but also the wholeness of the people, and here the main damage is to the wholeness of the people," he said.
"And even if this is your dream is to reform the judicial system, if this is the price - it is not worth it," Hendel concluded.
The demonstration will be held parallel to the weekly Saturday night protests throughout the country, and in Jerusalem outside of the President's Residence, which is not far away from Bell Park. Some of that protest's organizers criticized him for splitting the demonstrators, but Hendel was not moved by this, as he believes the right-wing has a different message: Yes to a sweeping reform, but one that is based on wide consensus.