Thousands of protesters gathered in support of the judicial reform in front of the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on Thursday night, ahead of a hearing on Tuesday for petitions against the only legal overhaul article to pass into law: The Law to Restrict the Reasonableness Standard.Waving Israeli flags and carrying signs, the men, women, and children swayed to music as they awaited more protesters to flood into the street.Men dressed in banana costumes came jaunting past Cinema City, proclaiming that the country was like a banana republic due to the power exerted by the justices.
They carried a large banner with Supreme Court President Esther Hayut and other justices portrayed as Roman emperors.On the main stage’s screen and from speakers, a rap song asserted that the Supreme Court was attacking religious values, settlements, and the military, while allowing other events, such as the Eritrean riots in south Tel Aviv last Saturday.
Another video said the military was made up of more and more people from religious and periphery backgrounds. One humorous skit said the court was forcing reservists to operate with their hands tied behind their backs.
"Don't cancel me!"
Speakers assembled on the stage included Religious Zionist MK Orit Struck, Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, Tekuma 2023 head Berale Crombie, and Im Tirzu CEO Matan Peleg.Struck said she would work to implement policies that the crowd had voted for.Peleg said democracy was in danger, and the court was set to carry out two “terrorist attacks” in September by ruling on basic laws.“We won’t accept a judicial dictatorship of the Supreme Court,” he said. “Israel won’t be a Jewish state or a democratic state if it cancels laws chosen by the nation.”The government’s hands were tied in the fight against terrorism and lawlessness in the Negev, Peleg said.Many of the signs created by Tekuma 2023, the main organizer of the rally, said: “Supreme Court, don’t cancel me!”Next Tuesday, the court is set to hear arguments against the Law to Cancel the Reasonableness Standard, which passed on July 24. The law was a basic law amendment, and a basic law has never been struck down by the court. Whether the court has the power to strike down such quasi-constitutional legislation is hotly contested, as Knesset speaker Amir Ohana demonstrated in a statement on Wednesday night.Yet it wasn’t the legal question that occupied the minds of protesters but what they saw as fair democratic outcomes.Moriyah, a girl handing out pro-coalition stickers, said the event was important to show that it was not acceptable that the court was ruling over them and lying to them. They had elected a government and expected its governance rather than that of the Supreme Court, she said.“We want to show them that we’re the majority, and we’ll fight for ourselves,” Moriyah said.Chanoch, an immigrant from Brooklyn, said the opposition was attacking Jewish values and allying with far-left extremists and Palestinians.“The issue is about a secular country versus a Jewish country,” he said. “What are we supposed to do? We can’t talk with them; they’re distorting the truth.”Ahead of the rally, Crombie said the Right should stop using the term constitutional crisis.“There won’t be any crisis because in a democratic country, the government and the Knesset representing the people have the last word, and only they should be heard,” he wrote on social media. “And if the High Court wants chaos, it will get chaos.”