‘Million Man March’ in support of judicial reform comes to Jerusalem tonight

With the Knesset set to resume on Sunday, following a holiday break, a right-wing demonstration of support for the judicial reform legislation is set to take place on Thursday evening in Jerusalem. 

The demonstration, called the “Million Man March,” is being organized as a counter protest to the large weekly anti-reform protests, under the slogan: “They will not steal our elections.” 

Several leading government proponents of the judicial reforms have announced they will attend the event. 

Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin wrote a message calling on supporters to attend, confirming that he would be participating in the rally himself. 

"On Thursday at 7 p.m., we will all go to Jerusalem to stand between the Knesset building and the Supreme Court building, and say with an unprecedented intensity: The people demand judicial reform. Our voice is equal and the mandate received by the right-wing government must be realized. I will be there, and I call on each and every one of you not to stay at home. Come out. Demonstrate. Influence. Change," he wrote to his supporters. Levin also uploaded a video making similar comments to his Telegram channel. 

The rally is being organized primarily by religious Zionist groups and pro-settler groups. 

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and Knesset Law, Constitution, and Justice Committee Chairperson Simcha Rothman are both scheduled to speak at the rally. 

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not expected to attend due to security reasons, he has expressed his support for the rally and people from his team have reportedly been involved in the planning meetings for the demonstration. 

The ultra-Orthodox parties have not been involved in the protest, despite supporting the judicial reform legislation, primarily because both men and women would be attending together and most ultra-Orthodox do not attend public gatherings unless there is separation between men and women. 

One ultra-Orthodox newspaper, Yated Ne’eman, even published an editorial saying, “Whoever goes to right-wing protests is not counted among our community, he is not one of us, period.” 

The same editorial expressed support for the judicial reforms, "We are in favor of the judicial reform and against the liberal terror's takeover of the people's lives through dictatorship." 

Organizers are hoping for a larger turnout than previous pro-reform demonstrations, announcing that they had arranged some 1,000 buses for transporting people to the rally. 

Several political analysts said the rally is not intended to garner public support, as many of the anti-reform protests are, but to influence Netanyahu to move more quickly to enact the judicial reform legislation. 

Knesset Member Avichai Boaron, one of the rally organizers, said they are willing to move slowly to achieve the reforms but that it will be accomplished. 

“We are now saying to the leaders of the coalition – you have the public's backing to carry out the reform while preserving the State of Israel and its systems, and if it needs to be done in a slightly softer way, there is nothing we can do, we will do it in stages, but we are committed to this,” Boaron said. 

Netanyahu already commented that he would prefer to focus on passing the budget before moving on to other legislation, including judicial reform legislation. Some analysts believe he is trying to wait for the negotiations to run their course, so that whether or not a compromise is reached, he can place blame on the opposition for any failures. 

Organizers expect tens of thousands to participate in the rally this evening and the Israel Police have already announced the closure of several roads in Jerusalem near the Knesset and Supreme Court buildings.