Arab citizens react to Israel's protests against proposed judicial reforms
Arab broadcasters carried rolling coverage of Israeli protests, strikes and political chaos on Monday (March 27), drawing the rapt attention of viewers to the internal fight over government plans to overhaul the judiciary. Some Arabs said they hoped the crisis would lead to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's political demise. Others expressed hope of more far-reaching consequences for Israel, which fought numerous wars with Arab adversaries after its establishment in 1948 and occupies land the Palestinians seek for a state. "As an Arab citizen, I think that this is the beginning of the end of Israel, God willing," said Qusai al-Qaisi, a citizen of Jordan, whose government signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994. "I don’t want to say that I’m happy, but I’m really happy that this is happening there," he said. The Israeli government's plan to tighten parliament's control over judicial processes triggered some of the biggest mass protests in the country's 75-year-old history, with opponents in Israel calling the plan a threat to democracy. Netanyahu came under pressure to ease tensions overnight when protests grew over his sacking of Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who had said the coalition's judicial overhaul threatened Israeli security. Late on Monday, Netanyahu announced he would open talks on the bitterly contested plans amid concerns the divisions could fracture his three-month-old coalition or escalate into violence. Some Palestinians compared the division in Israel to their own factional split between the Islamist group Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank - a divide many Palestinians have accused Israel of feeding as it set back their national cause. "What's happening in Israel - they deserve it," said Hani Abu Tarabeesh, a resident of Gaza. In Egypt, which made peace with Israel in 1979, pensioner Hakem Sherif echoed criticism of Israeli policies towards the Palestinians, calling Israel a state without legitimacy. But he also expressed respect for what he described as Israeli democracy, as he spoke in Cairo - where the army led the ouster of the country's first democratically elected president in 2013 after the "Arab Spring" protests. "Citizens have a space to express their opinions; they don't randomly arrest or carry out violent dispersal of protests," he said.
Arab broadcasters carried rolling coverage of Israeli protests, strikes and political chaos on Monday (March 27), drawing the rapt attention of viewers to the internal fight over government plans to overhaul the judiciary. Some Arabs said they hoped the crisis would lead to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's political demise. Others expressed hope of more far-reaching consequences for Israel, which fought numerous wars with Arab adversaries after its establishment in 1948 and occupies land the Palestinians seek for a state. "As an Arab citizen, I think that this is the beginning of the end of Israel, God willing," said Qusai al-Qaisi, a citizen of Jordan, whose government signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994. "I don’t want to say that I’m happy, but I’m really happy that this is happening there," he said. The Israeli government's plan to tighten parliament's control over judicial processes triggered some of the biggest mass protests in the country's 75-year-old history, with opponents in Israel calling the plan a threat to democracy. Netanyahu came under pressure to ease tensions overnight when protests grew over his sacking of Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who had said the coalition's judicial overhaul threatened Israeli security. Late on Monday, Netanyahu announced he would open talks on the bitterly contested plans amid concerns the divisions could fracture his three-month-old coalition or escalate into violence. Some Palestinians compared the division in Israel to their own factional split between the Islamist group Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank - a divide many Palestinians have accused Israel of feeding as it set back their national cause. "What's happening in Israel - they deserve it," said Hani Abu Tarabeesh, a resident of Gaza. In Egypt, which made peace with Israel in 1979, pensioner Hakem Sherif echoed criticism of Israeli policies towards the Palestinians, calling Israel a state without legitimacy. But he also expressed respect for what he described as Israeli democracy, as he spoke in Cairo - where the army led the ouster of the country's first democratically elected president in 2013 after the "Arab Spring" protests. "Citizens have a space to express their opinions; they don't randomly arrest or carry out violent dispersal of protests," he said.