Israelis opposed to the controversial reform of the judicial system, wanted by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, demonstrated Wednesday at Tel Aviv airport, before the planned departure of the prime minister for Berlin.
The Israeli leader is due to arrive in the German capital in the evening, and protests are also planned for Thursday in Berlin, the first day of his official visit.
"Extensive democratic civil resistance"
A thousand Israeli writers, artists and intellectuals also addressed a letter to the ambassadors of Germany and Great Britain in Israel, urging them to cancel the visit of Benyamin Netanyahou in these two countries.
The Israeli leader is due to visit Britain next week, according to Israeli media.
"
In the face of the dangerous and destructive government of Binyamin Netanyahu and in light of widespread democratic civil resistance against the destruction of state institutions through the adoption of anti-democratic laws, we call on Germany and Britain to quickly announce the cancellation of these visits
”, they write in this missive, signed in particular by one of the great figures of Israeli literature, David Grossman.
Binyamin Netanyahu will be received on Thursday by Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Head of State Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
He is "
Israel's elected prime minister and therefore a normal guest in Germany
," the German government spokesman commented earlier this week.
Read alsoBenyamin Netanyahu's perilous balancing act
"Dictator on the Run"
In Frankfurt, Meron Mendel, who heads the Anne Frank Center, said Berlin should have canceled the visit.
In Tel Aviv, outside the Ben Gurion airport terminals, demonstrators waved Israeli flags, one of them with a sign reading "Fugitive Dictator", an AFP reporter
noted
. AFP.
“
Don't come back!
“, could we read on posters plastered by protesters.
The demonstrators see in the reform of justice, which intends to limit the prerogatives of the Supreme Court, a threat to democracy.
Since the announcement of the text in early January by the right-wing and far-right coalition set up in December by Benyamin Netanyahu, massive demonstrations have taken place in the country.
The protesters denounce the reform of the judicial system as a whole but also the general policy of the government, and accuse the Prime Minister, charged with corruption in a series of cases, of wanting to use the law to quash a possible judgment coming to condemn him .
Read alsoIsrael: Netanyahu challenged on several fronts
Mediation attempt
On Tuesday, Parliament adopted in first reading a provision making it possible to overturn certain decisions of the Supreme Court.
Other decried provisions had already been adopted in February at first reading.
Binyamin Netanyahu and his allies consider the reform necessary to restore a balanced balance of power between elected officials and the Supreme Court, which they consider politicized.
Last Thursday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog called for a halt to the current legislative process, calling the bill a "
threat to the foundations of democracy
".
Isaac Herzog, who plays an essentially ceremonial role, has begun mediation between the opposition and the government with a view to reaching a more consensual text likely to be adopted by Parliament and to allay concerns.
