Thousands of people who oppose the government’s proposed judicial reform on Thursday evening demonstrated outside the home of former Supreme Court President Aharon Barak, who has been one of the vocal opponents of the reform.
When Barak came out of his home, the protesters shouted “thank you” towards him. Later, the demonstrators sang Israel’s national anthem, Hatikvah, outside Barak’s home and he could be seen shedding a tear during the singing.
Barak, who served as Supreme Court President between 1995 and 2006, first coined the term “Constitutional Revolution”.
Barak's approach, which was adopted by the Supreme Court and widely criticized over the years, says that the Constitutional Revolution brought values such as the Right to Equality, Freedom of Employment and Freedom of Speech to a position of normative supremacy, and thereby granted the courts (not just the Supreme Court) the ability to strike down legislation which is inconsistent with the rights embodied in the Basic Laws.
Consequently, Barak held that the State of Israel has been transformed from a parliamentary democracy to a constitutional parliamentary democracy, in that its Basic Laws were to be interpreted as its constitution.
On Wednesday, hundreds of right-wing activists participated in a “freedom march” led by the Im Tirtzu organization, which concluded with a demonstration outside Barak’s home.
Matan Jerafi, the coordinator of the Im Tirtzu movement, said, "The time has come for Aharon Barak to understand that he must not trample on the people's decision. The people chose judicial reform, and this is what needs to happen."