The fight for Israel’s democracy
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 4 April 2023
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets over the past three months to demonstrate against a judicial overhaul planned by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. We look at what the protests tell us about the current state of politics in Israel, and whether this could spell the end of Netanyahu’s political career.
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Guest: Anshel Pfeffer, Times contributor and author of Bibi: The Turbulent Life and Times of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Host: Josh Glancy, Special Correspondent, The Sunday Times.
Clips: CBS, BBC, CNN, Reuters, France24, AFP, Al Jazeera, TalkTV.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Imagine sweeping through green fields, floating five feet above ground, sun on your face as you slide by on track to your destination, not a car in the world, as you simply lean back. |
| 0:17.0 | And before you know it, you're there. |
| 0:20.0 | This is how travel should feel, and on our trains, it does. |
| 0:25.0 | Avanti West Coast, feel good travel. |
| 0:38.0 | Every weekend for the past three months, in cities across Israel, hundreds of thousands of people have been gathering and shouting a four-syllable chant that captures the spirit of their protest. |
| 0:48.0 | Democracy, democracy, democracy, you hear them say, with forceful clarity. |
| 1:04.0 | These are Israelis of all ages and from all walks of life, and they're out on the streets protesting against judicial reforms proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. |
| 1:12.0 | They say that these changes would undermine Israel's democratic system and destroy the country as they know it. |
| 1:19.0 | This outrage about a reform that would allow ministers to choose supreme court judges and would limit the court's powers. |
| 1:30.0 | It's divided the country like nothing before. |
| 1:33.0 | You've got generals, scholars, entrepreneurs, former heads of Mossad, some of your closest political allies have come out and attained this. |
| 1:45.0 | And drawn on usually strong criticism from Israel's closest ally. |
| 1:49.0 | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is dismissing President Biden's calls to drop his judicial reform plan. |
| 1:55.0 | Mr Netanyahu stressed that as a sovereign country Israel would make its decisions by the will of its people not based on pressures from abroad. |
| 2:07.0 | The last week, as protests reached an almost revolutionary pitch, there was a sudden pause. |
| 2:18.0 | Out of national responsibility, I have decided to suspend the second and third readings of the law. |
| 2:26.0 | The plans for judicial reform have been suspended, at least for a few weeks, but the issue hasn't gone away. |
| 2:32.0 | We don't trust the government and certainly not the Prime Minister in his gang. |
| 2:37.0 | We believe that we have to keep on protesting. |
| 2:44.0 | What do these protests tell us about democracy in Israel? |
| 2:47.0 | And as the country marks its 75th anniversary in a few weeks. |
| 2:51.0 | How significant a moment is this for this still young and turbulent nation? |
... |
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