Thousands demonstrated against Netanyahu's legal reform - Judge Barak: String of poison beads

Thousands of people demonstrated on Saturday evening in Tel Aviv against the new government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, among other things in protest of the reform of the judicial system that it intends to promote. At 7:00 p.m. they gathered in the Habima Square and from there they marched around the city to the Tel Aviv Museum plaza. "All the opponents of the coup d'état carried out by the criminal government, which threatens to harm all citizens of Israel wherever they are, have gathered," the organizers of the demonstration said.
  The demonstrators who arrived at the Bhima Square shouted, among other things, "Incitement begins in the corridors of the government" and "Netanyahu is dangerous, corrupt and also a racist." The police closed all the streets that lead to the square and many traffic jams were felt in the area. Several members of the Knesset came to the demonstration as a sign of solidarity, including Labor chairman Merav Michaeli and Knesset members from her party Naama Lazimi, Efrat Reiten and Gilad Karib, and Hadash chairman Ayman Odeh and a member of his party MK Ofer Kasif. The chairman of the Bar Association, Avi Himi, also came to the demonstration, as did former minister Tzipi Livni.
At 19:30 a march left the stage towards the Tel Aviv Museum, where there is a demonstration with a stage and speeches organized by several organizations. About an hour later, a second march took place in the direction of Ze'ev Citadel, which the organizers call "a march of torches against the government, in order to send a message to the government that the dangerous coup d'état will be met with unprecedented civil resistance", as the organizations say.
The "Standing Together" movement, one of the organizers of the demonstration, said: "The extremist and dangerous elements in the newly formed government are already planning how to harm us all - how to deepen the racist discrimination against the Arab citizens, how to cut the social budgets and how to discriminate on the basis of gender and sexuality. We will not sit at home idly or We will become addicted to despair and frustration. Where there is a struggle, there is also hope, and we will start a struggle for the home of all of us."
The chairman of the Labor Party, Merav Michaeli, arrived at the Bhima Square, as mentioned, and tweeted: "What energies in the Bhima Square! Together with thousands of amazing protesters we set out to demonstrate and shout in a clear voice - our country cannot be destroyed! We will continue to fight for our democracy." MK Naama Lazimi from Michaeli's party said in her speech on the Tel Aviv Museum plaza: "There are those in our bloc who think that we should talk to the kidnapper, to the one who is holding an entire country hostage, who decided to crush us all in the name of his justice and who put Kahana's weeds to be the top figures in the government and the cabinet. But no, we must not talk to the kidnapper Binyamin Netanyahu and his gang, we must overcome them."
Hadash-Ta'al chairman Ayman Odeh said in his speech: "We have a huge and historic opportunity in this crisis. Look how much power there is here, and this is just the beginning. The fascists' only chance is to separate us - and we won't let them."
The chairman of the Bar Association, Adv. Avi Himi, came to the demonstration and commented on the planned reform of the judicial system. "The reform that Levin's opponent is talking about is the destruction of democracy and a fatal violation of human rights, it is a violation of us citizens and civility," said Hami. "The only way a democratic society can cope is what we are doing here tonight. We are concerned citizens, and I want to convey a message to Levin's opponent - we will not allow you to turn us into a dictatorship."
Former Minister of Justice Tzipi Livni, who also came to the demonstration in Tel Aviv, tweeted: "Bima Square was flooded tonight with blue and white flags held by Zionist Israelis who came to fight for the state and the values of the Declaration of Independence. Whoever turned the blue and white into yellow, the Star of David into black and put it in And into his government the racist fist of 'so' directed at the citizens of Israel - that he will not preach on flags."
The CEO of the Civil Rights Association, Noa Seth, who is also one of the organizers of the Pride Parade in Jerusalem and a Reform rabbi, said at the main rally in HaBima Square: "We looked the homophobes in the eye and did not agree to let them win. Difficult struggles await us in the coming years, this crisis proves to us that communities should not be left behind. This separation between the communities is what caused the current crisis."
Former Supreme Court President Aharon Barak also joined the fight to reform the judicial system reform, saying that "this reform is a chain - a string of poison beads. If this chain goes around our necks and is fully implemented - this is the beginning of the destruction of the Third Temple", according to Barak, who is responsible for The "constitutional revolution" that Minister Levin wants to cancel, "it will be a Turkish democracy. We don't have a formal constitution, but there are basic laws that the Declaration of Independence recognized." He also said that the equivalent of this revolution is a "revolution of tanks" and that it is a "threat to the court".
According to Barak, who was interviewed by Network News, Keshet, and Kan, "The destruction of the Third Temple was caused by a fratricidal war, that the string, these proposals, is the tsunami that will bring it. Please let each of the millions, the citizens of the country and the residents of the country, know that if this reform goes into effect, your right, the right to honor Your right to freedom, your right to life, will be seriously harmed and there will be no court to turn to." Barak rejected the criticism that the Supreme Court determines who will be ministers, against the background of the discussions in Deri's case, and said: "The court does not determine who will be ministers, the laws of the State of Israel determine and the Declaration of Independence. The interpretation is by a court."
Also, two former legal advisors in the previous Netanyahu governments yesterday attacked the Justice Minister's plan to reform the justice system. At the jurists' conference of the movement for the quality of government, the retired vice president of the Supreme Court, Prof. Eliakim Rubinstein, said that a hearing for the judges, which is one of the measures proposed by Levin as part of his reform, "would be an excellent show, but a terrible way to choose judges." He also referred to the proposed strengthening clause, with a majority of 61 members of the Knesset: "This is politics of the weak, there is no need for that. Certainly not with a majority of 61 members of the Knesset."
Retired Chief Justice Meni Mazuz, who was the legal advisor between 2004 and 2010, said at the conference that "the result of the superseding clause will be a state without separation of powers. A state that has only one authority that controls both the Knesset and the legal system. I am not familiar with the political science literature that such a country can be considered a democratic country."