Thousands of protesters flocked to Tel Aviv and cities across Israel to express their opposition to the government’s plan to overhaul the country’s judicial system, Al Jazeera reported.
Crowds of Israeli protestors held banners in Tel Aviv at Saturday’s protest, the latest in a series of weekly actions since the start of the year. Plans by Netanyahu’s government to reform the judicial system have outraged Israelis who see it as an assault on their country’s system of checks and balances and a threat to its very democracy.
Protests last month brought Israeli cities to a standstill and threatened to shut down the economy, compelling Netanyahu to delay the judicial reform plan in hopes of finding a compromise.
However, protesters have been undeterred. Crowds of Israelis have flooded the streets in the weeks after Netanyahu backed down, demanding that the overhaul be scrapped altogether.
The plan would give Netanyahu and his partners in Israel’s most hardline coalition in its history the final say in appointing the nation’s judges.It would also give Parliament the authority to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit the court’s ability to review laws.
Thousands of officers in elite reserve units of the military have said they will refuse to report for duty. High-tech business leaders and the security establishment have come out against the proposal. Trade unions have called for a general strike.
Netanyahu agreed in late March to call a timeout on advancing legislation that would give the government almost complete control over almost all judicial appointments to the Supreme Court and other courts, along with other parts of the judicial package. The month-long suspension was announced after weeks of intensifying protests had brought the country practically to a standstill.
