Thousands of Israelis marched across the Zionist entity on Tuesday as a “Day of Resistance” was launched to protest against the Israeli government’s judicial reform plan.
Multiple protests began throughout the Zionist entity early on Tuesday morning, with 22 arrested so far and one 40-year-old woman injured after being hit by a car.
A number of roads were temporarily blocked, although occupation police quickly cleared them, Israeli media reported.
LIVE: Mass protests in Israel against judicial overhaul https://t.co/Fcylp7Ip7W
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On Tuesday afternoon, dozens of protesters began to gather in train stations, disrupting rail service. Occupation police said they were working to prevent delays to trains.
The Knesset is set to vote on the so-called reasonableness standard bill in its final readings on Sunday, which will make it the first part of the government’s planned judicial reform to be passed into law.
In February, the Knesset passed a bill that would alter the makeup of the Judicial Appointments Committee to give the coalition a majority and would ban the High Court of Justice from ruling on Basic Laws in a first reading, although the bill has been waiting since for its final second and third readings.
Reservists Refusal to Serve
Meanwhile on Tuesday, Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi warned that calls by reservists to refuse to serve in protest of the government’s plans to overhaul the judicial system cause harm to the occupation army.
“Anyone who calls for hot showing up [for duty] harms the IDF and harms the security of the state,” Halevi said, speaking at a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting on Tuesday morning.
“Our goal these days is to combine competence and cohesion” in the military, Halevi added.
“In the various arenas, both far and near, the IDF is required to be vigilant and ready to strengthen deterrence. The current security challenges require us to be highly prepared in terms of competence and cohesion, even when there is tension between them. The goal is to keep them together,” he said.
Source: Israeli media
