Anti-Netanyahu protests mount after Israel passes judicial bill
CTV
Israeli doctors began a 24-hour strike and black ads covered newspaper front pages on Tuesday in a furore over the hard-right government's ratification of the first part of a judicial overhaul that critics fear endangers independence of the courts.
Israeli doctors began a 24-hour strike and black ads covered newspaper front pages on Tuesday in a furore over the hard-right government's ratification of the first part of a judicial overhaul that critics fear endangers independence of the courts.
The bill curbing Supreme Court review of some government decisions passed in a stormy Knesset parliament on Monday after a walkout by lawmakers. Some accused long-serving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of pushing Israel towards autocracy.
With demonstrations convulsing Israel for months, thousands took to the streets and scuffled with police on Monday night.
"A Black Day for Israeli Democracy," said the ad on the front of major newspapers placed by a group describing itself as worried hi-tech workers.
Protest leaders said growing numbers of military reservists would no longer report for duty if the government continued with its plans. Former top brass have warned that Israel's war-readiness could be at risk.
A reservist was fined 1,000 shekels (US$270) and another was given a suspended 15-day jail sentence for not heeding call-ups for training, the military said, in what Israeli commentators described as its first disciplinary actions during the protest.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid asked protesting reservists to hold off pending any Supreme Court ruling on appeals against the new law. Both a political watchdog group and the Israel Bar Association have filed challenges.
