The Israel Medicine Association (IMA) has joined the nation-wide protests against the government's judicial reform, with a two-hour strike planned for Wednesday by doctors not involved in emergency departments, IMA head Zion Hagay said on Tuesday
TEL AVIV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th July, 2023) The Israel Medicine Association (IMA) has joined the nation-wide protests against the government's judicial reform, with a two-hour strike planned for Wednesday by doctors not involved in emergency departments, IMA head Zion Hagay said on Tuesday.
"This morning the management of the medical association decided on a strike tomorrow. The strike will last two hours from 08:30 a.m. (05:30 GMT) to 10:30 a.m. (07:30 GMT). The medical association will do everything not to harm people in need of treatment," Hagay wrote on Twitter.
The majority of Israeli doctors oppose the government-promoted judicial reform and remain committed to the struggle for democracy, Israeli daily newspaper Maariv reported.
Israel's health care system will operate in weekend mode during the strike, meaning emergency rooms in hospitals will be available to patients, the KAN radio station reported.
Israeli doctors have announced a strike as part of a nationwide "Day of Resistance" demonstrations against judicial reform taking place in Israel on Tuesday. However, mass protests in Israel against the government's judicial reform have been going on for 28 weeks now.
Demonstrations have intensified in Israel this week after the parliament on Monday passed in the first reading one of the key clauses of the reform, curbing the Supreme Court's power to cancel decisions made by the government by ruling them unreasonable. If the bill goes into effect, the government will get more power when promoting its decisions and electing officials.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that the government would drop the most controversial part of the judicial reform designed to enable the parliament to override the rulings of the Supreme Court.
At the same time, the Israeli prime minister said that the government and the opposition had been unable to agree on basic provisions of the reform for months, which would possibly prompt the government to advance the legislation unilaterally.
The draft law is intended to shake up the judiciary in Israel. If adopted, it could curtail the Supreme Court's power to review and strike down laws that it rules unconstitutional and give the government a greater say in the selection of judges.
