According to The Times of Israel, over 260,000 people took part in yet another statewide demonstration against the contentious Israeli court reform.
Protests against the reform have been ongoing in Israel for 11 weeks.
According to The Times of Israel, 175,000 protestors gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday, with another 85,000 protesting in other Israeli towns. Over 10,000 people gathered outside the presidential mansion in Jerusalem alone.
According to the publication, police in northern Israel deployed water cannons against protestors. Many demonstrators were arrested in Tel Aviv while attempting to barricade the Ayalon Motorway.
On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu encouraged the police and the prosecutor’s office to take harsh actions in reaction to attacks on state personnel by opponents of the government’s judicial reform.
Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin unveiled a judicial reform proposal in January that would restrict the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction by giving the cabinet responsibility over the nomination of new justices and enabling the Knesset to overturn the court’s verdicts with an absolute majority. The first component of the law was adopted by the Israeli Knesset in mid-February. The second part was adopted by the Israeli parliament’s Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee at the beginning of March.
Opponents of the reform claim that it would erode democracy in Israel and lead to a social and constitutional catastrophe.
