Israel: Protesters take to streets in one of the biggest protests in its history

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have called it the largest protest in the country’s history.

Protests against the government’s plans to overhaul the judicial system have continued for 10 weeks.

Cities such as Haifa drew record numbers of demonstrators, while Tel Aviv is believed to have seen around 200,000 people take to the streets.

Critics say the reforms will undermine democracy.

But Benjamin Netanyahu’s government says the planned changes are better for voters.

Organizers said as many as half a million pro-democracy protesters took to the streets across the country on Saturday in what Israel’s Haaretz newspaper called “the biggest demonstration in the country’s history.”

Opposition leader Yair Lapid told a crowd in the southern city of Beersheba that the country was facing “the greatest crisis in its history”.

“A wave of terrorism is hitting us, our economy is collapsing and money is fleeing the country. Iran just signed a new deal with Saudi Arabia yesterday. All it does is crush Israeli democracy,” he said.

Tel Aviv protester Tamir Gaitsavri told Reuters: [is] I want Israel to fall into a total dictatorship and keep Israel a democracy for my children. “

Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in protests against judicial reform.

The reform is intended to give the elected government decisive influence over the selection of judges and to limit the power of the Supreme Court to pass judgments against the executive branch or to reverse laws. increase.

The issue has caused deep divisions in Israeli society and, importantly, we have seen reserve forces, the backbone of the Israeli military, threaten to refuse service as a way of expressing opposition.

In an unprecedented move Monday, dozens of reserve fighter pilots in the elite Israeli Air Force squadron said they would not report for training. They later changed course and attended and agreed to hold a meeting with their commanders.

On Thursday, protesters blocked roads to try to prevent Netanyahu from fleeing the country. He later left for Rome.

The government stands firm in the face of the uproar, claiming the protests are fueled by political opponents.

Critics say the planned reforms, which have already passed Congress, could politicize the judiciary and lead to an authoritarian government.

Netanyahu says the reforms are aimed at preventing the courts from over-exercising their powers and were voted in by the Israeli people in the last election.