Scores arrested on Israeli day of protest as parliament passes judicial changes

Israel’s two-month-old protest movement has taken to the streets for a “day of disruption” as the parliament passed the first part of the hardline government’s controversial judicial changes into law.

The legislation, designed to protect the position of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was approved early on Thursday, after a heated all-night debate, by 61 votes to 47 – the minimum majority required.

On Thursday evening, the prime minister’s office said Netanyahu would “issue an important statement” in a televised address at 8pm (1800 GMT), leading to speculation that he may announce a temporary halt to the rest of the legislation. His far-right coalition partners have previously appeared determined to pass the most important elements of the far-reaching proposals before the Knesset breaks up next week for the Passover holiday.

According to the law passed on Thursday, Israel’s attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, is in effect no longer capable of declaring Netanyahu unfit for office, even if she believes he is attempting to use the judicial overhaul to overturn his continuing corruption trial. The prime minister denies all the allegations against him.

Netanyahu’s newly elected government, made up of far-right and religious parties, introduced the amendment in February after Baharav-Miara’s office barred him from involvement in the judicial overhaul because of a potential conflict of interest. The prime minister’s supporters had feared the attorney general may declare Netanyahu “incapacitated”.

Commenting on the passing of the “incapacitation bill”, the opposition chairperson, Yair Lapid, said: “Like thieves in the night, the coalition has now ratified a contemptible and corrupt personal piece of legislation against a ludicrous rumour.”

Among the other proposals for the judiciary are bills that would give politicians control over appointments to Israel’s supreme court and severely curtail its ability to overturn laws. Its architects say the changes are needed to rein in what they see as a leftwing bias in the decisions of the court, which serves an outsized role in a country with no formal constitution or second legislative chamber.

Critics, however, have raised fears of democratic backsliding, with significant pressure coming from the hi-tech sector, the military and Israel’s US allies. Palestinian citizens of Israel, who face systemic discrimination, as well as those living under military rule in the occupied territories, have long questioned Israel’s democratic character.

Demonstrations against the proposals began in early January in central Tel Aviv, evolving into the biggest protest movement in the country’s history. Gatherings drawing hundreds of thousands of people have taken place in every Israeli city, as well as outside the Knesset and politicians’ homes in Jerusalem.

Several additional “days of disruption” have blocked major motorways and resulted in clashes in which Israeli police have used stun grenades and water cannon to disperse protesters.

They appear to be growing more intense. On Thursday, at least 75 people across the country were arrested, including 18 who police said sprayed red paint on a police station in southern Tel Aviv, and one person who allegedly used a flagpole to hit Avi Dichter, a minister and senior member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, in an incident near Ben Gurion airport.

Only one in four voters support the judicial overhaul in its current form, according to recent polling by Israel’s Channel 12.

Several previous attempts at delay, negotiation and compromise, brokered by Israel’s figurehead president, Isaac Herzog, have been declared unworkable by the government. Israeli media have reported that Netanyahu, taken aback by the scale of the opposition, is open to cutting a deal, but is fearful of his far-right partners’ threats to bring down the coalition if their demands are not met.