2023 Israeli judicial reform protests
| 2023 Israeli judicial reform protests | |||
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| Part of the reactions to the 2023 Israeli judicial reform | |||
Top to bottom, left to right:
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| Date | 7 January – 12 October 2023 (9 months and 5 days) | ||
| Location | Israel, with solidarity protests in the United States 32°04′21″N 34°46′48″E / 32.0725°N 34.7800°E | ||
| Caused by | 2023 Israeli judicial reform | ||
| Status | Ended
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| Parties | |||
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| Lead figures | |||
| Casualties | |||
| Injuries | 128 protesters (3 seriously injured), 39 police officers (per police sources) | ||
| Arrested | 1,064 | ||
| Charged | 7 | ||
| Fined | 200+ | ||
From January to October 2023, large-scale protests took place across Israel in response to the government's push for a wide-ranging judicial reform. The proposed reform aimed to give the government full control of the Supreme Court or court decisions through various ways. The government also attempted to dismantle the Israel Bar Association and change the makeup of the Judicial Selection Committee.
The reform was promoted by Justice Minister Yariv Levin with the backing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the leaders of the other parties in the governing coalition, but was opposed by opposition parties as well as a large segment of the Israeli public. They were faced with questions on how much, if at all, they should focus on Palestinian rights. Statements by Israeli figures linked the aim of the reform to the expansion of Israeli settlements and further annexation of Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. The protests were effective in delaying the reform, and the ruling coalition would have lost 11 seats in a new round of elections according to polls published by September 2023. In July 2023, the Knesset passed a law to abolish the Supreme Court's ability to review government actions on grounds of reasonableness, but it was repealed by the Supreme Court on 1 January 2024.
The protests came to an end following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 and the ensuing Gaza war, with sporadic demonstrations continuing until the formation of a war cabinet on 12 October. The protests partially resumed later in 2023, as part of broader protests in the country related to the war.