2023 Israeli Judicial Reform Protests

From January to October 2023, large-scale protests took place across Israel in response to the government's push for a wide-ranging judicial reform. The proposed package aimed to change the makeup of the Judicial Selection Committee so that control over the appointment of judges was effectively given to the government, prevent the Supreme Court of Israel from ruling on the validity of a Basic Law, defend the preference of the "considered constitutional" Basic Laws passed by the Knesset over the Supreme Court's interpretation of a Basic Law or nullification of a regular law; abolish the use of " unreasonableness" as grounds for review of administrative decisions, reclassify ministry legal advisers from independent authorities to politically selected counsel whose opinions are not binding, and allow ministers to reject the Attorney-General's advice in any matter. In July 2023, the Knesset passed the law to abolish the Supreme Court's ability to review government actions on grounds of reasonableness.

The reform was promoted by Justice Minister Yariv Levin with the backing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the leaders of the other parties in the governing coalition, but was opposed by opposition parties as well as a large segment of the Israeli public. The protests took place in cities across the country from 7 January until 7 October, when the Israel–Hamas war began; sporadic demonstrations continued until 12 October, when the formation of a war cabinet paused all judicial reform efforts. They were faced with questions on how much, if at all, they should focus on Palestinian rights. Recent statements by Israeli figures increasingly linked the aim of the reform to the expansion of Israeli settlements and further annexation of Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.

Background

Since the political crisis beginning in 2018, multiple snap elections were held following unsuccessful attempts to form a governing coalition. The 2021 election was the first to have resulted in a successful government formation. The incumbent coalition, which held a one-seat majority, collapsed in June 2022 after a member defected. In the snap legislative election that followed, the incumbent government, led by Yair Lapid, was defeated by a coalition of right-wing parties, led by former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who formed a new government that took office on 29 December 2022.

On 4 January 2023, newly appointed Justice Minister Yariv Levin announced plans to reform Israel's judiciary, including limiting the power of the Supreme Court and of the government's legal councillors and granting the governing coalition a majority on the committee that appoints judges. Following the announcement, several organisations, including Crime Minister and ("Standing Together"), announced their intention to organise protests in Tel Aviv on 7 January. On January 17, the Supreme Court ruled the recently appointed Minister of the Interior Aryeh Deri was unfit for the post due to his criminal past with a recently suspended prison sentence. Netanyahu, who was on trial for corruption-related charges before as well, was forced to withdraw him.

After Netanyahu announced a pause in the judicial legislation on 27 March, counter-protesters started organizing their own demonstrations, with tens of thousands protesting in favour of the changes. Negotiations aimed at reaching a compromise collapsed in June, and the government resumed its plans to pass parts of the legislation; in response, the anti-reform movement ramped up its activities.

''The Jerusalem Post'' reported that funding for the anti-reform protests primarily came from the public, both in terms of small donations and through volunteer work; larger donors included tech entrepreneurs, as well as organizations including the New Israel Fund, Blue White Future, Our Way, and Commanders for Israel's Security. Supporters named in the article are Ilan Shiloah, Orni Petruschka, Itay Ben-Horin, and Idan Tendler.

Anti-reform demonstrations

7 January–11 February

The first protest took place on 7 January in Tel Aviv's Habima Square. It was initially organized by " Standing Together" (Hebrew: Omdim Beyachad), a socialist Arab-Jewish organisation, as a protest against the formation of the thirty-seventh government of Israel. Following Yariv Levin's announcement on 4 January that he planned to reform Israel's judiciary, other organisations, which included Crime Minister, joined the protest, leading a concurrent march from Habima. Omdim Beyachad's protest included Ayman Odeh as a guest speaker. The combined protests included approximately 20,000 people. In the meantime, a smaller protest took place in Haifa that was attended by 200 people. On 14 January, a second protest was organized at Habima, which was attended by approximately 80,000 protesters, and was joined by smaller rallies in Haifa and Jerusalem that were attended by several thousands.

From 14 January to 11 February, protests against the reform were held on a weekly basis in Kaplan Street, alongside smaller protests in Jerusalem, Haifa, Beersheba, and other cities like Ness Ziona and Herzliya. The Kaplan protests were regularly attended by numbers ranging from 60,000 to 150,000 people. Protests in other cities regularly attracted smaller numbers.

13–25 February

On 8 February, the Chairman of the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee Simcha Rothman announced it would vote on referring several reforms to the Knesset Plenum on 13 February, including a law giving the coalition a majority on the judicial appointments committee. The previous day, several protest leaders, including former Chief of the General Staff Moshe Ya'alon and the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, announced their intention to organize a general strike and a protest outside the Knesset building on the same date, which was believed to be the vote's date before the announcement was made.

More than 100,000 people gathered for protests in Jerusalem on 13 February, while individuals in several industries, including doctors and tech workers, went on strike. That day, the Constitution committee voted 9–7 in favor of the reforms.

Two more weekly protests were held on Saturdays in various cities around Israel, with a central protest in Kaplan. Both numbered over 100,000. The second protest was preceded by a performance of 150 members of Women Building an Alternative wearing red-and-white outfits resembling those worn by handmaids in the television series ''The Handmaid's Tale''. The group appeared in protest against some of the proposed legal changes, which they believe will hurt women. These protests were joined by another protest on 20 February, where over 100,000 protesters gathered outside the Knesset in Jerusalem to protest against an initial plenum vote on several reform-related bills.

1–9 March

1 March was designated by protest organizers as a 'national day of disruption'. Protesters tried to block Ayalon Highway in Tel Aviv, but police used stun grenades, mounted police, and water cannons against the demonstrators, and arrested several people. Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir both said that all protesters blocking the roads are anarchists who should be arrested. Later that evening, the Prime Minister's wife, Sara Netanyahu

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