After the parliament put the first portion of the hardline government's divisive judicial amendments into law, Israel's two-month-old protest movement took to the streets for a "day of disruption."
During a tense all-night debate, the measure, meant to protect Benjamin Netanyahu's position as prime minister, was accepted by 61 votes to 47, which is the required majority.
In a televised speech on Thursday night, Netanyahu called for unity and vowed to defend democracy and civil rights.
“We can’t let any disagreement, however fierce, endanger our joint future, to avoid a rift in the people, each side must take seriously the claims and concerns of the other”, he said.
“Until now, my hands were bound. Now, I am getting involved,” he stated, pointing to a now-outdated ruling by the attorney general's office that had previously prohibited him from participating in the judicial reform due to a possible conflict of interest coming from his corruption case.
The words from the prime minister came at the conclusion of a dramatic day in Israel, during which the sociological, constitutional, and political crises that the judicial reform has sparked were clearly on show.
(Image: Oren Alon/Reuters, JOSEF FEDERMAN and ILAN BEN ZION - Associated Press)
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