Protesters held placards calling the court a “dictatorship” and declaring it is “harming national security.”
Barak, who served as Supreme Court president between 1995 and 2006, is widely considered responsible for the “Constitutional Revolution” that the current government seeks to moderate with its reform initiative.
Reformers will gather for the “Million-person Protest” outside the Knesset in Jerusalem on April 27, in a show of strength and support for the government’s effort to restore checks and balances on the court.
Organizers said in a statement that the event will be “the largest demonstration in [the state’s] history,” and issued a call telling “government ministers and Knesset members: You have received a mandate to correct the injustice. We will not be second-class citizens!”
Justice Minister Yariv Levin on Saturday urged proponents “to stand between the Knesset and the Supreme Court and say with unprecedented determination: The people demand legal reform. The mandate received by the right-wing government must be realized.”
