Israel yesterday braced for fresh strikes and protests following a divisive parliamentary vote on a controversial judicial reform that has split the nation and drawn criticism from allies abroad.
The decision by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to push through a key plank of its reforms on Monday has already sparked legal challenges and clashes on the streets.
Opponents were yesterday set to keep up months of protests, with doctors walking out.
Photo: AFP
“The hand, extended for dialogue, was left hanging in the air, as victory celebrations took place symbolizing above all a war that only has losers,” Zion Hagay, head of the Israel Medical Association, Zion Hagay, said in a statement announcing the walkout.
The move came after the Histadrut trade union confederation threatened a repeat of the general strike it called in March over the reforms.
The Israel Bar Association was among numerous groups to file petitions to the Supreme Court aiming to strike down the new legislation.
“A black day for Israeli democracy,” read the blackened front pages of three of the country’s top newspapers, which carried an advert by opponents of the judicial reforms.
Protesters remained on the streets late into the night following the vote, with student Josh Hakim saying he was “really, really sad about what’s happening to this country.”
“You see what is happening on the streets, everyone is so angry,” he said at a rally near parliament in Jerusalem.
Some 58 people were arrested at demonstrations, the police said, among them protesters in Tel Aviv, which has become the focal point of one of the country’s largest-ever protest movements.
Police said one person was yesterday remanded in custody for allegedly harming demonstrators, with protest organizers saying he drove a car into people blocking a highway.
Officers used water cannon to disperse protesters on a major road through Tel Aviv, where the crowd waved Israeli flags.
Netanyahu failed to appease opponents with a televised address late on Monday, in which he pledged to hold talks during the upcoming parliamentary recess.
“Reach a comprehensive agreement on everything and we will add more time should it be needed,” he said.
On Monday, the opposition walked out of the chamber to boycott the vote, which passed with the support of 64 of its 120 lawmakers.
Opposition head Yair Lapid slammed Netanyahu’s “unprecedented performance of weakness.”
“There is no prime minister in Israel. Netanyahu has become a puppet of messianic extremists,” he said in reference to Netanyahu’s far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies.
The White House described the vote as “unfortunate.”
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