Tel Aviv, MINA – Entering its 27th week on Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people across Israel organized demonstrations to protest the judicial overhaul scheme proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, Anadolu Agency reported.
Broadcaster Channel 13 estimates nearly 140,000 protesters attended the main demonstration in Tel Aviv, along with thousands protesting in other locations, including Jerusalem and Haifa.
“Now is the time to stop the Netanyahu government,” historian Yuval Noah said in a speech at the rally in Tel Aviv, according to the Times of Israel news website.
Several senior Israeli politicians attended the rally, including former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who joined the demonstration in front of President Isaac Herzog’s official residence in Jerusalem.
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Police said they would uphold the right to protest but warned against what they described as rioting or damage to infrastructure. The Haaretz newspaper reported that at least two protesters were arrested in Tel Aviv.
The draft law for the controversial judicial overhaul plan will be read for the first time in Israel’s parliament, or Knesset on Monday, without consensus between the government and the opposition.
Israel has been in political turmoil in recent months over planned judicial reforms by Netanyahu’s government, which the opposition views as a power struggle in favor of executive authority.
But Netanyahu said his plan would improve democracy and restore balance between the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government. (T/RE1/P2)
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