Today, Israel voted through the controversial bill that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to push through. The proposal gives the parliament, among other things, the right to overturn judgments from the country’s highest courts, something that has led to extensive demonstrations around the country – including on Monday.
The protests against the criticized bill, which would curtail the Supreme Court’s powers and give the country’s politicians more power over the judiciary, have been going on for about 30 weeks. The current situation has come to be described as one of Israel’s worst political crises, and on Monday demonstrators once again gathered outside the Knesset in Jerusalem to protest as the assembly met to vote on the bill.
Several of the protesters are said to have chained themselves outside the building, while riot police dispersed the crowds with the help of water cannons. A number of the demonstrators have also been arrested or injured.
The Minister of Justice: First step in historic process
Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, is said to have tried to influence the outcome by advising both parties – the government and the opposition – to agree on a compromise regarding the bill.
But later in the afternoon the news came that the proposal had been voted through.
After the vote, Justice Minister Yariv Levin said the parliament had taken the “first step in an important historic process” regarding the overhaul of the country’s judiciary, reports AP.
Netanyahu discharged from hospital
On Monday, Prime Minister Netanyahu was able to leave the hospital where he underwent surgery to get a pacemaker.
The prime minister, who tried to push through the proposal, and his government have been described as the most right-wing and extreme in the country’s history.