Netanyahu Cancels Appearance at Jewish Federations Event Amid Planned Protests

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has canceled his participation in an event in honor of Israel’s 75th Independence Day, which was sponsored by the Jewish Federations of North America, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Hayesod, and the World Zionist Organization. The event was scheduled to take place on Sunday at the Expo Tel Aviv convention center in Jerusalem, where thousands of protesters were planning to demonstrate against the proposed judicial reforms.

Organizers of the event announced the prime minister’s cancellation and thanked him for his message of friendship between communities. They went on to express their support for President Isaac Herzog’s efforts to advance a compromise agreement on judicial reforms that would be acceptable to the majority of Israelis and strengthen Israel’s democratic institutions.

The president and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, Eric Fingerhut, stated that he was not worried about the planned protests and hoped that the demonstrators would understand the organization’s dedication to the future of Israel.

Protests against the government’s planned judicial reforms took place Saturday night for the 16th week, with around 380,000 protesters across the country, according to organizers. The main rally was in Tel Aviv on Kaplan Street, with 165,000 demonstrators. Other cities also had sizable protests, with at least 30,000 in Haifa and 13,000 in Herzliya, and 5,000 in Hod Hasharon, where Opposition Leader Yair Lapid spoke. Among the speakers at the Tel Aviv protest were former Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin, Holocaust survivor Avraham Ruth, and Sheila Katz, CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women.

In Beit Shemesh, an estimated 650 residents turned out to protest against the government’s judicial makeover and a smaller crowd demonstrated in favor of the planned reforms. At the end of the night, the organizers of the two demonstrations joined together, arm in arm, to lead the singing of the national anthem, “Hatikva.”