Protests in Israel regain momentum as Benjamin Netanyahu rejects compromise

Israeli protesters pressed ahead on Thursday with demonstrations against a contentious government plan to overhaul the judiciary pushing back against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he rejected a compromise proposal that was meant to defuse the crisisDespite the effort by the countrys figurehead president Isaac Herzog to seek a way out of the stalemate the sides appeared to be further digging inNetanyahu and his allies were set to barrel forward with their original plan despite weeks of mass protests and widespread opposition from across Israeli society and beyond as well as warnings by Herzog that Israel was headed toward an abyssProtesters were kicking off a third day of disruption since the crisis began with roads set to close to make way for demonstrators Protesters in Jerusalem drew a large red and pink streak throughout the city on streets leading to the countrys Supreme Court and a small flotilla of boats was blocking the shipping lane off the coast of the northern city of HaifaThe elected government is doing a legislative blitz that aims to give absolute power to the executive And absolute power to the executive with no checks and balances is simply a dictatorship And this is what were fighting against said Shlomit Tassa a protester in Tel Aviv waving an Israeli flagLast week Netanyahu had to be airlifted to the countrys main international airport for an overseas state visit after protesters blocked the road leading there holding signs that read dont come backTens of thousands have been attending weekly protests across the country each Saturday night The overhaul advanced by a prime minister who is on trial for corruption and Israels most rightwing government ever has plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crisesIt has sparked an uproar from top legal officials business leaders who warn against the economic effects of the plan and from within the countrys military its most trusted institution where reservists have pledged not to serve under what they see as impending regime change The government says the plan will correct an imbalance between the judicial and executive branches that they say has given the courts too much sway in how Israel is governedCritics say the overhaul upends the countrys system of checks and balances and gives the prime minister and the government too much power and strips it of judicial oversight They also say Netanyahu who is on trial for charges of fraud breach of trust and accepting bribes could find an escape route from his legal woes through the overhaulHerzog had been meeting for weeks with actors on both sides of the divide to try to reach an acceptable middle ground and his proposal appeared to offer incentives to both sidesAlso read Israel Protesters stage day of resistance against Netanyahu planBut Netanyahu swiftly rejected the plan as he boarded a plane to Germany saying it didnt rectify the issue of balance between the branches Protests were also expected in Berlin during Netanyahus official visit there Herzog said Thursday that his proposal was meant to be a basis for further talks Its not the end of the discussion but the beginning of it he saidBut it was not clear how much the coalition would be able to bend away from its original plan parts of which it has pledged to pass before the parliament goes on recess for the Passover holiday early next monthYohanan Plesner head of the Israel Democracy Institute a think tank that consulted with the president on his plan said the coalition was beginning to understand the toll its plan was taking on Israeli cohesion on the countrys economy and on its own popularity Still he said the coalition hadnt yet reached the point where it would back downPerhaps we will have to pay a greater public price and reach a lower point until this would become the baseline for achieving a compromise he said of the presidents planThe embattled Netanyahu once a stalwart supporter of the independence of the courts returned to power late last year after more than a year as opposition leader amid a political crisis over his fitness to rule while on trial that sent Israelis to the polls five times in less than four yearsHe cobbled together a coalition with ultranationalist and ultraOrthodox allies who have long sought to curb the powers of the judiciary Parties who support West Bank settlements see the court as an obstacle to their expansionist ambitions while religious factions are driven to limit the courts ability to rule on matters they fear could disrupt their way of lifeBut critics say there are also personal grievances involved in the effort Beyond Netanyahus charges which he says are unrelated to the overhaul a key Netanyahu ally was disqualified by the Supreme Court from serving as a Cabinet minister because of past convictions over tax violationsUnder the overhaul they each have laws that could protect their positions from any intervention from the courtsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed 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