Demo Says "No to Israeli Dictatorship" on Crissy Field

Photos by Rachel Podlishevsky, ProBonoPhoto.org

On February 5th more than a hundred people demonstrated in San Francisco to protest an overhaul of the Israeli judicial system proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government. The Israeli government’s plans to reform the its High Court would mean Netanyahu and allies would greatly increase government control over the courts, allowing a majority of Knesset members to override any court rulings, said protesters. They told reporters they were there to show solidarity with the protesters in Israel and raise American awareness.

One speaker said that the government wants to virtually eliminate judicial review of Knesset legislation and that women, minorities, Arabs, members of the LGBTQ community and asylum seekers would “be on the wrong end of that.”

The Golden Gate Bridge at their back, the demonstrators on San Francisco’s Crissy Field posed for photos as wind blew around signs, flags and banners. With their location near Silicon Valley, not surprisingly more than one demonstrator expressed concern about effects of an extremist Israeli government on the tech field.

Meanwhile in Washington, the Biden administration has remained largely silent even as members of the international community are speaking out against what one writer described as "the fascist menace that emerged from the Israeli ballot box."