Brussels group protests against "the fall of Israeli democracy"

About 20 people gathered outside the European Parliament in Brussels this Tuesday, March 7, to denounce what they call a legislative coup in Israel. The rally was organised on the Place du Luxembourg to encourage the European institutions to intervene in the situation in Israel.

The protesters are criticising an Israeli government bill that aims to give it greater influence over the selection of judges and thus limit the prerogatives of the Supreme Court. "If this bill passes, we risk seeing the fall of Israeli democracy," denounces Dan Sobovitz, the organizer of the rally. "The European Union must break the silence and say that it is alerted by what is happening in Israel," he continues.

Many thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of major Israeli cities since the bill was announced a few weeks ago. The people present in Brussels therefore wanted at the same time to pay tribute to these people and show that they support them.

An open letter addressed to Parliament, posted online a few days ago, asks the European institutions to put pressure on Israel and explains that the current situation endangers the relationship between the European Union and Israel. The letter has already collected a few hundred signatures, according to the organiser. The demonstrators went to hand it over to a representative of the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.

(VIV)

^{A protest action "Stand for Israel's democracy" ​ in Brussels on 7 March 2023. ©BELGA PHOTO (GABRIEL MITRAN)}