Massive protests expected in Jerusalem as judicial overhaul debates continue
Massive protests expected in Jerusalem as judicial overhaul debates continue
Israeli tech sector and leading law firms call on employees to join nationwide demonstrations
Ahead of a dramatic day in the Knesset in Jerusalem, and against the backdrop of huge demonstrations, the plenum will convene on Sunday morning to begin debates on the law to approve the abolishing of the reasonableness standard in court rulings. The discussion, which is expected to be heated, will continue until Monday at noon when concluding speeches will be made after which the votes are expected to be held and are anticipated to conclude in the evening.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who underwent a pacemaker implantation last night, decided to continue promoting the legislation despite the warnings of Chief of General Staff of the IDF Herzi Halevi and Defense Minister Yoav Galant regarding the expected damage to the IDF due to the announcement of 1,142 Air Force reserve personnel, including hundreds of pilots, and approximately 10,000 additional reservists, to stop volunteering.
A huge demonstration is expected in front of the Knesset, starting at 4:00 p.m. Yesterday, about 80,000 protesters participated in a protest in Jerusalem, with many of them joining a march towards the city over the last few days. In addition, huge demonstrations were held throughout the country on Saturday. Supporters of the legislation will hold their own demonstration at Kaplan in Tel Aviv on Sunday evening.
Lemonade, Wix, Papaya Global, monday.com, Wiz, Pitango, Qumra Capital, and about 200 other leading Israeli high-tech companies and venture capital funds are expected to participate in the protest events against the judicial overhaul that will be held Sunday.
The companies will allow employees to receive a full or partial vacation day in order to take part in the various events, and some companies will also completely shut down their activities throughout the day.
A partial list of the companies and funds that will join the protest includes Wix, Wiz, monday.com, Verbit, Redis, Cheq, TytoCare, Skai, Augury, Natural Intelligence, Fireblocks, Appsflyer, Kaltura, Dazz, Qumra Capital, Disruptive VC, NFX, Pitango, HiBob, AU10TIX, Akeyless Security, TPY Capital, Laminar, Pentera, Zencity, Anywell, Empathy, Leal Health, Nexar, SOMV, and many more.
In addition, the leading law firms in Israel are closing their offices today and calling on their employees to go to Jerusalem and demonstrate against the judicial overhaul. Among the firms are Herzog Fox Ne'eman; Meitar; Shibolet; Pearl Cohen; Erdinast, Ben Nathan, Toledano; Agmon and Tolchinsky; ERM; Goldfarb Seligman; M. Piron; KRB; Naschitz Brandes Amir; and S. Horowitz.
"The undersigned leading law firms in Israel are announcing: Due to the continuation of the unilateral legislative process and in view of the enormous divide in the people and the tangible and immediate damage to the security of the State of Israel and its economy as a result, they will close their offices on Sunday, July 23, and call on their employees and partners to go to Jerusalem and join the protest," a statement from the law firms read.
Netanyahu was fitted with a pacemaker overnight between Saturday and Sunday. "A week ago I was fitted with a monitoring device. That device beeped this evening and said I must receive a pacemaker and that I must do this already tonight," Netanyahu said in a video ahead of the procedure. "I feel great, but I need to listen to my doctors."
Netanyahu, 73, was standing in the video and smiling. He said his doctors assured him he would be discharged from the hospital on Sunday afternoon. Justice Minister Yariv Levin replaced him during the procedure, Netanyahu's office said.
Netanyahu underwent the procedure at Sheba Medical Center in Tel HaShomer, his office said. He had been hospitalized there overnight on July 15 for what he said was dehydration from holidaying at the Sea of Galilee without properly protecting himself from a heatwave.
The hospital on July 16 confirmed its original diagnosis of dehydration and said additional tests involving a subcutaneous holter monitor had found Netanyahu to be "in complete cardiac health," though the device would allow his medical team to continue monitoring his health.
Netanyahu faces a domestic crisis in his record sixth term as prime minister, with protests surging against his religious-nationalist coalition's push for judicial changes.
Netanyahu said in the video he would be discharged from hospital in time for a key vote scheduled to start at parliament on Sunday and last throughout Monday.
Tens of thousands of Israelis marched to Jerusalem on Saturday hoping to drum up support against the judicial overhaul and rallied outside parliament ahead of the vote on the bill that would limit some of the Supreme Court's powers.
The furore has contributed to strains in relations with the United States, as have surging Israeli-Palestinian violence and progress in Iran's nuclear programme.
Washington has urged Netanyahu to seek broad agreements over any judicial reforms. In his video, Netanyahu suggested that last minute agreements could be reached.
Reuters contributed to this report
