Protests and Politics in Israel: A Complex Landscape

Protests against the Israeli government's efforts to overhaul the judiciary are set to continue for the 13th consecutive week, with demonstrations planned for around 150 locations. Protest leaders have likened the pause announced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the situation in Poland in 2017, where the president silenced protests against a judicial overhaul with a veto and calls for unity, before later enacting almost identical legislation. The attorney general has warned that the coalition’s current package of legislation would hand the government virtually unrestrained power, without providing any institutional protections for individual rights or for Israel’s democratic character.