Demonstrations against and for Israel’s judicial overhaul have paused for a traditional Jewish fast, with national leaders calling for reconciliation while activists vow to return to the streets and step up pressure on the government.
The constitutional crisis, now in its seventh month, surged on Monday after parliament passed the first of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reforms trimming Supreme Court powers over his ruling religious-nationalist coalition.
Political watchdog groups appealed to the court to overturn the new law, paving the way for an unprecedented showdown among branches of government when arguments are heard in September.
The legal tussle will begin as early as next Thursday, however, when the top court will hear an appeal against a coalition bill ratified in March that limited conditions for removing the prime minister from office.
With the rattled country shut down for Tisha B’av, the fast day mourning the destruction of two ancient Jewish temples in Jerusalem blamed by the sages on needless infighting, Israeli leaders counselled soul-searching.
“I appeal on everyone: Even when the pain peaks, we must preserve the boundaries of the dispute and refrain from violence and irreversible measures,” President Isaac Herzog, who has been trying since March to broker a compromise, said on Facebook.
“We must imagine our lives together here – in another 40, 50 and 100 years – and how each action will impact on our children and grandchildren, and on the bridges between us.”
Read the article by Dan Williams in The Canberra Times.