A demonstration of about 1,500 Britons and Israelis was held in Parliament Square to protest the Netanyahu government and its proposed judicial reforms on Sunday.
It was the second such rally organised in the UK, after a gathering outside Israel’s embassy in February attracted more than 300 people but was criticised for taking place on Shabbat.
Sunday’s protest follows others run by Israeli ex-pats in America, Canada and Europe.
Famous faces like chef Yotam Ottolenghi were in attendance, along with politicians including Labour MP Margaret Hodge. Messages were read out from Sir Mick Davis, former chief executive of the Conservative Party, and the former Foreign Office Middle East minister, Alistair Burt.
The Community Security Trust estimated that 1,500 people gathered to hear speakers, including Dame Margaret and Professor Yossi Mekelburg, associate fellow in the Chatham House Middle East and North Africa programme.
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Famous face: Israeli chef Yotam Ottolenghi pictured attending the protest on Sunday (Photo by Gilad Mandelboim)
They expressed their grave concern about the future of Israel and its democratic society if the planned legislation is enacted.
In a message read out to the crowd, Sir Mick Davis, former chief executive of the Conservative Party, said: “This Israeli government is putting the democratic foundations of the state of Israel in existential danger. This is a crisis for Jews and friends of Israel everywhere… we stand with Israel in the face of external threats and now we must stand with Israel in the face of equally concerning threats from within.
“It is right that Israelis in London are protesting, and it is right that British Jews, our friends and allies should protest with them.”
Sir Mick’s message was echoed by Burt, who said in a message read out to protesters that the demonstration was “unprecedented in my experience” and was “an indication of deep concern for a state that faces many challenges which cannot be tackled successfully with such a fracture in the values which have sustained it over decades.”
Listening and responding positively to the demonstrators, he said, was “essential”.
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Dame Margaret Hodge MP addressing gathered protesters (Photo by Galia Rimon)
Dr Sharon Shochat, one of the Israeli organisers of the demonstration, said it was a grassroots event, spontaneously put together by Israelis living in the UK.
“Everyone wants to do something”, she said, adding that her Holocaust survivor grandparents, now in their 90s and living in a moshav near Netanya, “cannot believe what is happening in the country they helped to found”.
She added: “This is not just an Israeli issue. We all feel that there will be ramifications and that we are witnessing a big moment in the reputational damage being done to Israel.”
Dr Shochat emphasised: “When it’s a threat to democracy, the issues of left and right don’t matter. We think this protest should not have any political affiliation — and that’s reflected in Israel.
“It’s notable that there have not been counter-protests to the Israeli demonstrations, except for the government calling them anarchists, which is disgraceful and shameful considering the protesters include pilots, doctors, heads of the security services and reservists who spent years serving the country."
“Hate evil and love good,
— Edward Isaacs (@UJS_PRES) March 12, 2023
And establish justice in the gate;
...let justice well up like water,
Righteousness like an unfailing stream” Amos, Chapter 5
Today we joined the 1500 protesters in Parliament Square.
We will support democracy and oppose the far right at every turn. pic.twitter.com/Pj6lU5FcbL
ABOVE: UJS President Joel Rosen and colleagues pictured at the protest
Alongside restauranteur Ottolenghi was and the Tel Aviv-born designer Ron Arad, now living in London.
Arad held a sign in Hebrew and English reading “Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir, Smotrich Government out.”
One demonstrator was spotted with a sign reading “Charedi Jews stand with the innocent Muslims of Huwara”, the Arab Israel town attacked by Jewish settlers two weeks ago.
And British Jews in the crowd included the chief executive of JW3, Raymond Simonson, as well as Mitzvah Day Founder Laura Marks.
A group of women echoed protests held in Israel by dressing in the signature red cloaks and white bonnets of the Handmaids’ Tale, based on the books of Margaret Atwood, and parading slowly into Parliament Square.
It is understood that further demonstrations are planned.
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A Charedi demonstrator holding a sign that reads: 'Charedi Jews stand with the innocent Muslims of Huwara'
Rabbi Deborah Blausten of Finchley Reform Synagogue told the crowd: “I can’t entertain a world where Judaism becomes a synonym for something that does not uphold the highest values of our tradition and the highest aspirations of humanity.”
Dame Margaret, in an impassioned and emotional address, said: “This isn’t an issue of the left or right. It’s about the rule of law. You cannot compromise on the rule of law.”
Other speakers included Rabbi Zahavit Shalev, social entrepreneur Mike Prashker — British-born but a long-time Israeli citizen — and the chief executive of Yachad, Hannah Weisfeld.
