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Israeli Anti-Government Protesters Hit Bourse, Roads, Trains
(Bloomberg) -- Israel’s anti-government protest movement spread its activists across the nation on Tuesday, hoping to stop Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from proceeding with a law that will reduce the oversight power of the judicial system.
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Protesters hit train stations during the afternoon commute home after marching in the morning into the Tel Aviv stock exchange, distributing fake currency and holding signs saying “save our startup nation.” Trading wasn’t disrupted. Some 21 protesters were arrested by the afternoon, police said.
As it became clear that the protests weren’t shutting down the country, the shekel gained 0.5% against the dollar at 4:23 pm in Tel Aviv and was the third best performer for the day among major currencies. The benchmark TA-35 index was trading 1.4% higher than at the opening.
The surge in demonstrations, dubbed the “Day of Resistance” by protest leaders, came on the heels of a call between Netanyahu and President Joe Biden, who has criticized Israel’s cabinet ministers as being extremist.
The organized rallies were examples of savvy marketing with creative slogans and a range of actions chronicled by a team of drone-mounted cameras.
Major highways were briefly blocked by people who set up tent camps or sat down, while prayer sessions were held outside top officials’ homes. Protesters also targeted the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv.
From north to south, national monuments were decorated with banners declaring that the country was at risk of losing its soul — and its economic prowess. The protests have been supported by the nation’s economic and military elite, who consider the government’s policies a threat to democracy.
“This is not what I meant!” declared a banner that hung north of Tel Aviv near an image of Theodor Herzl, the founding theorist of Zionism.
“Netanyahu is dividing the nation!” read another on a highway overpass. Soldiers’ boots were hanging by their laces on a wire outside a military base, along with the sign: “No Further!”
Months of Division
The rift in the country opened in December after Netanyahu’s coalition announced a plan to overhaul the liberal-leaning court system.
The government and its supporters say that the electorate has spoken. They say the court system is packed with liberals, left over from a day when judges were chosen by one another.
Israel’s business and professional establishments say that the combination of a religious, nationalist government and a weakened judiciary will ruin Israel’s well-earned reputation as a high-tech haven and magnet for international investments. They also warn that the government’s policies will make it a less-attractive place to live and work — and they themselves might want to leave.
Netanyahu’s coalition initially sought a massive overhaul, but paused after protests flared up in March. There were also concerns that Israel’s external enemies, led by Iran, were encouraged by the divisions.
That led to negotiations between the government and the opposition that fell apart last month. The government has now started with a single major bill — to remove from judges their ability to declare a law or appointment “unreasonable.” The bill has passed its first parliamentary reading and is scheduled to become final in the next week or two.
That spurred the protest movement to step up its activities. Among them are threats by top military reservists to withhold service, something that is an especially dire possibility in a country that has taken pride in unity against external threats.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant appealed to top reservist units not to go ahead with refusals.
“We are allowed to disagree, argue, discuss and protest, but it is forbidden to hard the military in the name of one political opinion or another,” he said. “We cannot exist in this country without the military.”
Protests were expected to continue sporadically in coming days. The Israel Medical Association announced a two-hour strike for Wednesday morning in which doctors at public clinics and hospitals will only provide emergency services.
(Updates with new details throughout.)
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