Thousands March in Israel as Netanyahu Allies Push Overhaul

Israelis wave national flags during a rally against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new government to overhaul the judicial system, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Feb. 13, 2023. (AP)
Israelis wave national flags during a rally against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new government to overhaul the judicial system, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Feb. 13, 2023. (AP)
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Thousands March in Israel as Netanyahu Allies Push Overhaul

Israelis wave national flags during a rally against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new government to overhaul the judicial system, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Feb. 13, 2023. (AP)
Israelis wave national flags during a rally against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new government to overhaul the judicial system, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, Feb. 13, 2023. (AP)

Thousands of Israelis protested outside the country's parliament on Monday ahead of a preliminary vote on a bill that would give politicians greater power over appointing judges, part of a judicial overhaul proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

The committee vote, expected to take place after a stormy session, marked the opening salvo by Netanyahu and his allies in a plan that has divided the country, triggered mass protests and even drawn concern from President Joe Biden.

Trainloads of protesters arriving in Jerusalem streamed up escalators in the city’s main train station chanting, “democracy,” cheering and whistling, and waving the national flag. A few hundred others gathered in protest at Jerusalem’s Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray.

In parliament, opposition lawmakers vocally protested the proposed reform to judge appointments ahead of a committee vote that would send the bill to the full parliament for a vote. During an unruly session, members of the opposition stood on the conference table and shouted as a key Netanyahu ally tried to hold the vote.

Throngs of people marched to the Knesset, the Israeli legislature, a day after the country's figurehead president urged Netanyahu's government to delay its proposed changes to the judiciary — moves that critics say will weaken the country's Supreme Court and erode democratic checks and balances.

Many protesters carried the blue and white Israeli flag and posters decrying what they saw as attack on the country's democratic institutions. “Shame! Shame!” they chanted.

Other demonstrations were held outside schools around the country.

Netanyahu and his supporters say the proposed changes are needed to rein in a judiciary that wields too much power. He and his allies took office in December after the country's fifth election in less than four years, unseating a unwieldy coalition of his opponents that held office for just over a year.

But his critics say the judicial overhaul is tantamount to a coup and will destroy Israeli democracy. They also say that Netanyahu, whose corruption trial is dragging on into its third year, is motivated by a personal grudge against the legal system and has a deep conflict of interest. Netanyahu claims he is a victim of a witch hunt by prosecutors and the justice system.



No Way to Restart Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant at Present, IAEA Chief Says

A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, June 16, 2023. (Reuters)
A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, June 16, 2023. (Reuters)
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No Way to Restart Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant at Present, IAEA Chief Says

A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, June 16, 2023. (Reuters)
A view shows the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, June 16, 2023. (Reuters)

Conditions for restarting Ukraine's Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant do not exist at present due to a lack of water for cooling and the absence of a stable power supply, the head of the UN's nuclear safety watchdog said on Tuesday.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told Reuters in an interview in Kyiv that water would have to be pumped from the Dnipro River for the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is currently shut down, to restart.

The facility, in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region, was occupied by Russia in March 2022, shortly after it launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

Grossi said the Russians had "never hidden the fact" that they want to restart the plant, but they would not be able to do so soon.

"We are not in a situation of imminent restart of the plant. Far from that, it would take quite some time before that can be done," Grossi said.

The IAEA chief added that the plant's machinery, which has not been operating for three years, would have to be thoroughly inspected before any restart.

Ukraine has said that an attempt by Russian technicians to restart the plant would be dangerous because they are not certified to operate the Zaporizhzhia plant.

Grossi said Russian nuclear staff were capable of conducting a restart, and that the issue of certification was a political rather than technical one.

Ukraine has also protested at the IAEA's monitoring mission to the plant accessing it via Russian-occupied territory.

Grossi said this was to protect the safety of his staff, and that at present he does not have the necessary guarantees from the Russian side to safely transit IAEA staff through the frontlines to Ukraine-controlled territory, as had been done several times before.