JERUSALEM — Israel’s parliament passed a key law Monday as part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's effort to overhaul the country’s judicial system, despite international criticism and huge protests.
The bill will remove the power of judges to overrule Cabinet members’ decisions in which they fail a “reasonableness” test.
Opposition politicians walked out of the chamber, shouting "shame" and "government of destruction," boycotting the vote. Later, a crowd of protesters outside the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, tried to cross a police cordon near the building before being repelled, officials said.
All 64 members of the ruling coalition voted in favor of the bill but no lawmakers voted against.
Netanyahu, who attended the vote hours after being released from a hospital following an emergency heart procedure, and his allies say the change is needed to stop unelected judges from overruling democratic leaders.
President Isaac Herzog had attempted to find a compromise between the government and opposition parties, and called the standoff between the two sides a “national emergency.”
Thousands of protesters outside the Knesset believe the government’s proposed judicial overhaul is a national crisis and argue that a crucial check on political power will now be lost, harming the Jewish state’s democracy and boosting Netanyahu’s power.
Demonstrators banged on drums, blew horns and waved Israeli flags as they blocked a road leading to the Knesset. Businesses closed in protest. Police used water cannons on the demonstrating crowds.
Police earlier said 12 protesters, referred to as “troublemakers,” had been detained near the Knesset, and that one had bitten a police officer.
Protesters say Netanyahu faces a choice between democracy and autocracy.
“After an unprecedented wave of protests, and clear warnings from the security establishment, industry leaders, the hi-tech sector, the trade unions and now directly from the White House, today Netanyahu will decide between the will of the people and the will of the extremists in his own government,” Shikma Bressler, a protest movement leader, said in a statement before the final vote.
Many military reservists and retired veterans are taking part in the direct action, a sign of how deeply felt the overhaul is across Israeli society.
“We’re not going to continue to risk our lives going to serve in an air force of a country that is not democratic. It’s as simple as that,” Guy Poran, a former air force pilot who is now a protest movement leader, said ahead of the vote.
“You’re either for this kind of legislation or you’re fighting against it. And this is something that has never happened in 75 years of existence of Israel. And, frankly, it’s frightening,” he said.
So many reservists are taking part in protests that it has become a national security problem, according to a senior military leader.
“These are dangerous cracks,” military chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi wrote in a letter to soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces on Sunday meant to address the tensions. “If we will not be a strong and cohesive military, if the best do not serve in the IDF, we will no longer be able to exist as a country in the region.”
The plan, which was backed by Israel’s ruling coalition of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties, has been the source of intense protests for months.
The United States took the highly unusual step of weighing-in after the vote on the internal political developments of its close ally.
“We see the passage of part of the legal reform as unfortunate,” the Biden administration said.
Earlier, in a statement to the news website Axios on Sunday, President Joe Biden urged Netanyahu to come to a peaceable consensus.
“Given the range of threats and challenges confronting Israel right now, it doesn’t make sense for Israeli leaders to rush this — the focus should be on pulling people together and finding consensus,” he said.
The political turmoil comes amid heightened concerns over Netanyahu's health. The 73-year-old was fitted with a pacemaker over the weekend, in his second hospital stay in two weeks.
The prime minister recorded a short video saying he was well, thanking the doctors and the public for their support. He attended the Knesset vote in person.
The opposition movement does not end with this vote. The chairman of the Histradut, Israel's national labor union, Arnon Bar-David, said after Monday's vote that he will gather his members and if necessary call a "complete shutdown."
Paul Goldman and Raf Sanchez reported from Jerusalem, Patrick Smith from London.