Doctors and Healthcare Staff in Israel Go on Strike

Doctors and healthcare staff in Israel began a strike on Tuesday morning, August 3, in protest against the approval of parts of the government's judicial reform bill. According to Reuters, the doctors announced that the first phase of their nationwide strike would last '24 hours' and 'may lead to longer strikes' in the future. In another protest action, many major newspapers in Israel printed a full black page on their front pages today, August 3. The image featured the phrase: 'A black day for Israeli democracy.' Opponents of the government's plan to 'cancel the reasonableness standard,' which was approved yesterday in a tense session with 64 votes in favor out of 120 Knesset members, have called it 'the end of democracy' in their country. Following the failure of the last attempts at compromise, the vote in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, was conducted with a complete boycott by the opposition, but all 64 lawmakers from the coalition led by Netanyahu voted in favor. Washington had also urged Netanyahu to reach a consensus for any judicial reforms. U.S. President Joe Biden once again asked Netanyahu to refrain from advancing this 'divisive plan.' Biden warned late Sunday in a statement to Axios that 'advancing legal changes that have caused significant divisions' should be avoided. The first part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposed bill to reform the judicial powers of the country was approved by Israeli lawmakers on Monday, July 24. The approval of judicial reforms in the Israeli parliament and the continuation of protests; report by Shahla Arasteh. Former Mossad chief: The defense minister should have resigned due to the approval of the judicial reform law. The White House's reaction to the outcome of the vote in the Israeli parliament: We support broader consensus. The Israeli parliament approved Netanyahu's bill to limit the powers of the Supreme Court.