After a wave of petitions by lawyers and senior economists and members of the security establishment condemning the judicial reform promoted by the Netanyahu-led government, more and more counter-protest measures are being taken by Israelis in favor of the reform.

Last Thursday, as published in The Judean, a letter was published by 120 senior academics supporting the reform, including Nobel laureate in economics Professor Israel Oman; and early Sunday a petition in a similar spirit was published by about fifty former Soviet citizens who were imprisoned by the Soviet Union for their pro-Zionist activities.

In the new petition, the coalition's senior officials are called on to fearlessly continue promoting the plan to reform the judicial system. It opens with the following words: "We, prisoners of Zion and Aliyah activists from the former Soviet Union, cannot remain indifferent to the controversy surrounding the planned judicial reform. We all remember the anti-Zionist trials in the Soviet Union against us and our friends, and the statement we heard at the beginning of each trial: 'The Soviet Court should be led by the socialist legal consciousness'. In other words, there is a law, but the official ideology is above the law."

Excellent article by star reporter @LahavHarkov who breaks down what is really going on regarding Judicial reform in Israel. Whichever side one finds themselves on it is important to know the facts. Time to temper emotions on all sides.https://t.co/t439mtl0TZ

— Rabbi Steven Burg (@stevenburg) March 5, 2023

The petition was initiated by Dr. Anatoly Goldfeld, an expert in nuclear engineering, who was sent in the early 1970s to four years of imprisonment in labor camps for Zionist activity, and with him Michael Lubovkov, an architect and lecturer at Ariel University, who was denied immigration to Israel by the former Soviet Union. Lubovkov is also part of the “Israel 2030 Forum”, which deals with the promotion of governance reforms, the exercise of sovereignty, and national education.

"As those who fought the dictatorship in the Soviet Union, we remember very well the basic assumptions of the regime: first, that communism is the necessity of the future and therefore it must win. Second, 'real democracy' is built on the assimilation of this one correct ideology, and not on the power of a random majority of people who are not enlightened about the truths of communism. 

The elite commando squad that rescued hostages in #Entebbe in 1976 published a letter on Saturday slamming Prime Minister Benjamin #Netanyahu for “sacrificing the State of Israel and the people of Israel for your own interests.”

via @TimesofIsrael https://t.co/Fc4MBqAgX5 pic.twitter.com/vpmgKtDXTO

— Louis Jadwong (@Jadwong) March 5, 2023

“Does this remind us of anything in contemporary Israel? Yes, to our great regret. After all, the protest against judicial reform means denying the right to govern and lead a country by parties that won the elections. If we want to be a free people in our country - it is necessary to bring the reform to fruition."