Schumer plans Israel visit as Netanyahu faces protests over judicial reforms

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., will lead a delegation of Senate Democrats to Israel next week for meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to reports.

First reported by Axios, according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry the trip is scheduled for Feb. 23–25.

Schumer’s trip will take place just days after what was considered to be one of the largest protests in Israel’s history. More than 80,000 people demonstrated against judicial reforms put forward by Netanyahu’s government in Jerusalem this week.

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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The demonstrators marched and gathered outside the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, and held flags and chanted “democracy” and “no to dictatorship” soon after Netanyahu’s government launched a controversial plan to overhaul the country’s judicial system.

According to the suggested plan, which was introduced mid-January, the ruling coalition will have control over the appointment of judges, including high court justices, and allow the Knesset to re-legislate laws the court annuls with a simple majority of 61 of the 120 Knesset members.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Gali Tibbon/Pool via AP)

Schumer’s trip comes shortly after Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip last month, when he met with Netanyahu and urged him to build consensus around the new proposals.

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Some 80,000 Israelis gathered to protest against judicial reforms pushed by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. (Maya Meshel)

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“[B]uilding consensus for new proposals is the most effective way to ensure they’re embraced and that they endure,” Blinken said.

Schumer’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Yonat Firling contributed to this report.