Activists calling themselves "the responsible right" gathered in Jerusalem's Liberty Bell Park on Saturday evening to call for dialogue regarding the government's judicial reform bill.
The demonstration was attended by former Communications Minister Dr. Yoaz Hendel, who initiated the event together with former Shin-Bet Chief Yoram Cohen, Pinchas Wallerstein, one of the leaders of the Gush Emunim movement, Rabbi Yermi Stavitzki, Rabbi Ohad Tehar-Lev, journalist Emily Amrousi, former MK Nir Orbach, and other rabbis and public figures.
The organizers said the event was "An emergency demonstration to heal the rift in the nation, to call for dialogue, and to accept the president's plan - to prevent a civil war."
"The purpose of this demonstration is to stop the careening train," Hendel told Israel National News. "All of us, on the right and the left, feel the danger of things falling apart, and as someone who knows the Jewish people's history, I know how these feelings can turn into very bad results in the state of Israel. Therefore right-wingers who believe in the unity of the nation and the land, who understand that fixing the judicial system is important, but they need to be made through agreements according to the President's plan. We need to talk with each other. We are one nation, and no one has the mandate to drag us into civil war."
Former Shin-Bet Chief Yoram Cohen spoke out at the demonstration against an expedited: "The goal of an expedited reform is not to improve the justice system but to neutralize it. The reform will turn Israel from a democratic state to one that is not so.