Global Courant
Protesters take to the streets for the 23rd week in protest against controversial judicial plans and deadly violence against Palestinian minority communities in Israel.
Tens of thousands of protesters have gathered in cities and towns across Israel for the 23rd week in protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government’s controversial plans to overhaul the judiciary and deadly violence against Palestinian communities in the country.
The mass demonstrations, which drew some 100,000 people on Saturday, began in January shortly after Netanyahu’s far-right government was sworn in.
Gaining momentum, protest organizers have seen large turnouts of more than 200,000 protesters at times, and said they will not give up until the government cancels the proposed law changes rather than delaying them.
In central Tel Aviv, protester Michal Gat said: “Our country is being taken over by extreme people…we are being held hostage”.
“It is super important for the Israeli people to keep Israel a democracy,” the 47-year-old techie told AFP news agency.
Some people at the protest also held placards criticizing the government’s laxity over a rising crime wave that has hit Israel’s Palestinian citizens.
Some 102 Palestinian-Israelis have been killed in crime-related violence since the beginning of the year, according to Israeli media.
On Thursday, five Palestinian Israelis were shot dead at a car wash in Yafia, a town near the city of Nazareth, police said.
Palestinian citizens of Israel have long complained of discrimination and lack of police action against violence and crime that disproportionately affect their communities.
“We will not let (Itamar) Ben-Gvir get away with killings in Arab society,” read a protest sign, referring to Israel’s far-right security minister.
Another sign read “dead-class citizen,” a pun on the phrase second-class citizen.
Organizers said demonstrations were also held in the cities of Haifa and Rehovot.
In Haifa, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak called for a nonviolent civil uprising against Netanyahu’s government, saying “now is not the time for a timeout”.
“We must not fall into illusions… The protest must intensify and lead to a civil uprising. Nonviolent civil disobedience,” he said.
Netanyahu, on trial on corruption charges, had announced in March a “pause” from judicial overhaul plans to allow talks on the divisive changes.
But months of talks have not led to a breakthrough.
And the judicial review bill — which would weaken the courts and limit scrutiny of laws and government decisions — could be brought back in an instant for a final vote in parliament, according to Israeli media.
Netanyahu’s government, a coalition between his Likud party and far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies, argues that the changes are necessary to rebalance power between lawmakers and the judiciary.
Last month, when parliament passed Israel’s state budget, Netanyahu vowed to “continue our efforts to reach the broadest possible agreement on legal reform.”
Critics say the bill poses a direct threat to civil rights and warn it will give the government unfettered power and upend the country’s system of checks and balances.
