Massive demonstrations against the judicial reform promoted by Israel’s right-wing government continued for the 10th week in the country on Saturday. Local media reports suggest that over 250,000 people attended the protests held across various cities of the country. Protesters mostly oppose a judicial reform that aims to grant more powers to the Executive at the cost of weakening the independence of the judiciary. The demonstrations mainly focused on the city of Tel Aviv, which witnessed more than 200,000 protesters. Even the city of Haifa in the north had over 50,000 attendees. Besides, thousands gathered in other cities such as Jerusalem, Netanya, Ashdod, Raanana, and Sderot. Notably, former prime minister and current opposition leader, Yair Lapid, were part of the over 8,000-strong gathering in Beer Sheva. The protests are in response to the controversial judicial reform bill, that is being deliberated in the Parliament. The reform includes giving the government full control over appointment of judges and allowing political officials to fill the posts of legal advisers in ministries. Demonstrators also oppose the “annulment clause”, which would enable a simple majority of deputies to repeal rulings issued by the Supreme Court. Last Thursday, there were roadblocks across the country and at Ben Gurion international airport as part of the protests. The Minister of National Security announced the removal of the head of the Tel Aviv Police, Amijai Eshed, but the decision was frozen by the State Attorney General after questioning its legality. The head of the Israel Police has promised that his department will protect the right to demonstrate under the framework of the law. The protests continue to intensify in Israel’s fight to maintain its democracy and independence of judiciary.
