Israeli protesters paint 'red line' leading to Supreme Court after
Netanyahu spurns compromise
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[March 16, 2023]
By Maayan Lubell
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Jerusalem woke on Thursday to the sight of a long
red line painted by protesters along roads leading to Israel's Supreme
Court, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a
compromise deal for his government's planned judicial overhaul.
Police said they had arrested five people who had disguised themselves
as workers to carry out the protest action overnight.
Drone footage showed a small group of people in protective suits
spraying a wide red stripe along mostly deserted roads leading from a
police and magistrate's compound up to the Supreme Court in central
Jerusalem.
A slogan stencilled in red onto the road in Hebrew, Arabic and English
by the side of the road read: "Drawing the line."
The hard-right government's drive to limit Supreme Court powers while
increasing its own power in selecting judges has caused alarm in Israel
and abroad about the country's democratic checks and balances as
protests have swelled for weeks.
In what they dubbed "a day of resistance," demonstrators blocked roads
around commercial hub Tel Aviv and in other cities. At the Haifa port a
few flag-toting protesters on boats, including former navy men, tried to
block docking lanes.
"We are here to protest our democracy, our country, because we feel that
our country is under brutal attack of the government, the Israeli
government," said choreographer Renana Raz in Tel Aviv.
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Israelis demonstrate during "Day of
Resistance", as they call on the U.S. to intervene to stop Benjamin
Netanyahu's nationalist coalition government to press on with its
contentious judicial overhaul, outside the U.S. Consulate in Tel
Aviv, Israel, March 16, 2023. REUTERS/Nir Elias
Netanyahu, upon departing late on Wednesday for a state visit to
Germany which has voiced concern over the judicial plan, said a
proposed compromise outlined by President Isaac Herzog would not
restore balance to the branches of government.
His nationalist-religious coalition says the Supreme Court too often
overreaches and intervenes in political matters it has no mandate to
rule on. Defenders of the court say it is a bastion of democracy,
protecting rights and liberties.
Economists, legal experts and former security chiefs have warned
that the judicial plan, which has yet to be written into law, will
wreak havoc on the country's economy and isolate Israel
internationally.
Netanyahu, who is on trail for corruption charges he denies, says it
will strengthen democracy and boost business. Members of his
coalition driving the changes hope to win parliament's final
approval of them by April 2.
(Additional reporting by Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem and Dedi
Hayoun in Tel Aviv; Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editig by Raissa
Kasolowsky)
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