Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been protesting in the squares for 12 weeks against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "judicial reform". Some sources announced that more than 600 thousand people participated in these protests in recent events, especially in Tel Aviv.
Yoav Gallant, the Defense Minister of Netanyahu's new coalition, which stands out as the most right-wing radical government in its history, also called for the suspension of judicial regulation. After this call, he was dismissed and this situation further enlivened the squares.
Netanyahu showed this dismissal as a will of determination, but the waters are not calming down. Now universities have declared an indefinite strike.
In their joint statement, "As the rectors and administrations of Israeli universities, we will suspend education at all Israel's research universities against the backdrop of the ongoing legislative process that has undermined the very foundations of Israeli democracy and jeopardized its continuity. We call on the prime minister and coalition members to stop the bill immediately," it was said.
So, why is this judicial reform being protested? What details are not accepted in society?
The Israeli Supreme Court is defined as the highest judicial court. Minister of Justice Yariv Levin announced on January 5th that they would limit the powers of the high court. He said that they aim to transfer some of the powers of the judiciary to the Parliament.
As it is known, the court has certain powers, such as overturning the laws coming from the Assembly on the grounds that they are inconsistent with the basic laws that are the source of the constitution. The Netanyahu government stated in the judicial regulation it announced that this authority of the high court would be taken away to a large extent. After this statement, there was confusion.
The Israeli people regard this initiative of Netanyahu as a break in the transition to authoritarianism. He believes that the executive aims to bring the judiciary under its direct control with this reform.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, on the other hand, urged the government to take a step back, declaring that "Israel is in greater danger than it has ever been since the Yom Kippur War."
The war, which started with Egypt's unexpected attack on Yom Kippur, a Jewish religious holiday in 1973, turned into a defeat because Egyptian forces did not have a sustainable plan after their initial success. Bennett also tried to explain the extent of the danger by referring to this war.
On the other hand, President Isaac Herzog warned of "civil war", but this outburst was not taken into account by Netanyahu.
It seems that these protests will make Netanyahu take a step back in the near future. The announcement that the judicial reform will be suspended yesterday was the first sign of this.
In an environment where Israel's oppression and oppression against the Palestinian people both in the occupied territories and in Gaza still continues, the determination of the Israeli people in the actions and the death-dealing sweat of Netanyahu has made the process even more interesting.
Will this work end with the overthrow of the government in Israel? We'll have to wait and see if the coalition of Netanyahu, who won a vote of confidence by a thread in the parliament, will disintegrate.