In the 27th week of protests against the government’s proposed judicial makeover, sizable throngs of demonstrators have turned out across Israel.
One of the largest rallies to date, according to organisers, involved 180,000 people in central Tel Aviv alone. They estimate that 365,000 people have turned up in towns around the nation.
The demonstrations take place soon before the Knesset, the national legislature, holds its first reading on Monday of a plan to reduce judicial oversight of the executive and parliamentary branches.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has renewed its efforts to pass judicial overhaul, this time in stages, after six months of fierce opposition from center, left and even right-wing citizens, military reservists, and political parties.
This second effort is galvanizing protesters across the country, with a spokesman for the national protest movement promising an “all nighter.”
At the end of June, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said one the most controversial aspects of his government’s proposed judicial reform, a provision allowing the Knesset to overturn Supreme Court rulings, has been dropped.
Israel has no check on the power of the Knesset other than the Supreme Court.
As the protests reached their peak this Saturday, social media videos and Israeli press reported Israeli police using water cannons to clear demonstrators from blocking one of Tel Aviv’s main highways.