Protesters against the judicial reforms in Israel went out to demonstrate Monday morning across the country in preparation for the first vote in the Knesset plenum on articles that will allow the coalition to control the committee for selecting justices by changing its composition and laws that will block the High Court of Justice from discussing the legality of fundamental laws.
As part of the protests, which began in front of the homes of ministers and Knesset members, the entrance to MK Tali Gottlieb's house in Givat Shmuel was blocked, as was the entrance to the house of Education Minister Yoav Kish in Ramat Gan. MK Simcha Rothman's car was also blocked at the entrance to the Israeli community of Pnei Kedem in Gush Etzion.
Israeli protest against judicial reform package continues
— Anatolian Tiger (@HarimauAnatolia) February 20, 2023
Israelis demonstrating against Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan block the road in front of Knesset Member Simcha Rotman's car.#SahabatPalestina_ID#LivingInPalestine pic.twitter.com/BnYMFIODMu
The protestors in front of Gottlieb's house, who came to the door of her house, waved a sign that said "Whoever represents rapists does not represent us", a reference to that as a lawyer Gottlieb made headlines when she represented sex offenders. On behalf of the activists, it was stated that "Tali Gottlieb, a lawyer for rapists in the past and a member of the Committee for a Political Coup in the present, is one of a handful of women in the government that is supposed to represent all of us. We reached her today because we continue to block the coup with our bodies, and we will not stop until the legislation is repealed." Later, police arrived and removed the activists from the scene, and at the same time arrested eight people.
Ahead of the Knesset's initial vote on the judicial reform, protesters in #Israel have blocked a major road in #TelAviv. pic.twitter.com/AcmbRdMfBN
— Newsistaan (@newsistaan) February 20, 2023
The activists claimed that "from the day the government showed a willingness to crush the judiciary and abolish the separation of powers - it lost its legitimacy to govern. We will oppose it in any non-violent way, and we are not afraid to pay a personal price." Yigal Rambam, who demonstrated in front of MK Gottlieb's house, told Yedioth Ahronoth: "Today Tali Gottlieb will take a day off, take care of her daughter, and not go to work. nothing happened. They are busy destroying. They are busy fighting. This is not a reform, this is a very aggressive, one-sided, blitzkrieg attack on the entire Israeli society."
2/2 De plus, des dizaines d'autres manifestants sont venus bloquer la voiture du président du Comité constitutionnel Simcha Rothman, et les maisons d'Avi Dichter et Yoav Kish.
— 0404Informations (@0Informations) February 20, 2023
At the same time, as mentioned, the members of the reservist soldiers protest came to demonstrate outside the house of the chairman of the Constitution Committee, Simcha Rothman, who is promoting the laws of the legal revolution in the committee he chairs. The demonstrators, who blocked the entrance to the Pnei Kedem community in Gush Etzion, as well as Rothman's car, shouted, among other things, "Democracy, Let's not become Iran," and waved a sign that read "must oppose the dictatorship."
