Protesters Against Israel’s Judicial Reform Plan Disrupt Finance Minister’s Speech

Protesters against the Israeli government’s planned overhaul of the judicial system interrupted Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s speech at the Israel Democracy Institute’s Eli Hurvitz Conference on Economics and Society on Tuesday morning, calling on him to resign. Some shouted, “You don’t represent us!” while others held up signs and banners featuring slogans like “Democracy Forever” and accusing the minister of destroying Israeli high-tech. Smotrich responded to the protesters, saying that the judicial reform was “good for democracy, rights, and the economy.” He asserted that “the majority of the people are ready to talk and want to reach agreements” on the government’s plan to weaken the Supreme Court. But, he said, “a small and extreme handful wants to damage everything, the economy, security, cohesion. A small, anarchistic handful that causes enormous damage to Israeli society.” In response, the protestors interrupted his speech again and again. One of the demonstrators shouted, “He won’t call us anarchists, there are heroes here. Shame!”

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid responded on Twitter to the finance minister’s remarks at the conference, writing, “The people you called today a ‘loud minority’ are the majority of Israeli citizens. They are the middle class that keeps the economy going, they are the ones who serve in the army, they are the military men, they are the taxpayers. They are the people thanks to whom the State of Israel exists.”