A minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet wearing a Statue of Liberty costume cast as “anarchists” anti-government protesters who arrived at a Purim event she hosted Saturday night.
Speaking to supporters at the event in Rishon Lezion, Transportation Minister Miri Regev of the premier’s conservative Likud party accused “the anarchists” of trying to crash the meetup, referring to two individuals who stood outside the venue and chanted slogans against the government’s shakeup of the legal system.
“Thank you so much for coming from north and south to my conference, despite the demonstrators' attempt to disturb us," Regev told the crowd wearing a floor-length flowing green robe and a seven-pointed spiked crown inspired by the iconic New York City landmark.
"Happy Purim to the anarchists too, those who tried to crash my traditional event and failed. We are not intimidated and afraid of you."
The judicial reform, which is designed to curb the Supreme Court’s ability to strike down laws passed by the Israeli parliament and give the government greater sway over the judge selection process, has sparked weeks of street protests that saw hundreds of thousands of Israelis rock up nationwide.
Supporters of the plan assert that it is a necessary step to bridle judicial overreach whereas opponents claim it is an attempted power grab by a government driven by hardline ideology and legally embattled politicians trying to remain in office.
Netanyahu and his allies often refer to their detractors as privileged “anarchists” who refuse to accept the results of last year’s elections in which the prime minister’s conservative-religious bloc secured a solid majority in the Knesset.
Regev explained her costume pick as a representation of “liberty and equality and a second chance for Second Israel”, referring to a popular theory that the country is controlled by a left-wing, Ashkenazi, socialist “First Israel” caste that tries to exclude a mostly right-wing, Mizrahi/Sephardi, conservative “Second Israel” caste from public life and decision-making roles.