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Hello and welcome to Spectator Out Loud. Each week we choose three pieces from the magazine

and ask their writers to read them aloud. I'm Oscar

Edmondson and on the podcast this week. Anshulfeffer reads his international politics column

about Netanyahu's misstep. Laura Gascoen reads her arts lead on Vermeer's women. And finally,

Simon Barnes reads his notes on orcas. Up first, and Shulfeffer.

As 100,000 Israelis gathered outside Israel's parliament, the Knesset on Monday,

to protest against Minimin Netanyahu's government's plans to pass a series of laws dramatically weakening the power of the Supreme Court, the first speaker was Netanyahu

himself. Actually, it was a recording from an

interview he had given in 2012, where he said that without a strong and independent Supreme Court,

there can be no protection of rights. It's what makes the differences between dictatorships

and democracies. The crowd jeered. There had been fear of violence at the demonstration.

Police had at barricades, but there was no real need for them. The mood was surprisingly upbeat

for a demonstration which claimed the end of Israeli democracy was nigh. That's because the

protesters felt they were winning. It wasn't just a success in mobilizing such a large

number of people to Jerusalem on a weekday. It was't just a success in mobilizing such a large number of people to Jerusalem

on a weekday. It was also the surveys showing that a majority of Israelis opposed the government's

plans. Above all, it was the belief privately shared by many in government that the legal reform plans

presented on December 29 were rushed. The perceived threat to liberal democracy has caused Israel's normally non-political business community,

especially the high-tech companies and investors, to come out on the side of the protesters.

International investment banks and credit rating agencies have begun to pay attention,

as has the US government.

...