Thousands of protesters slam Israeli cabinet’s extremist policies for 25th straight week
Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in Tel Aviv for the 25th week in a row to condemn the extremist policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right cabinet.
Protesters marched towards Ayalon, which is the main highway in Tel Aviv, on Saturday, blocking traffic before they were dispersed by the mounted police.
Many held up signs that read "Israel is burning" and "douse the flames" in reference to the threat that they perceive is facing the regime through Netanyahu's proposed judicial overhaul plan.
The plan seeks to rob the Supreme Court of its ability to cancel the decisions made by either the regime's cabinet or the Knesset. It also seeks to give politicians more power in the process of selecting the court's judges.
"Today, we are here to tell ... them that even though tomorrow they continue with the legislation with judicial reform..., we will never stop," one protester was quoted by Reuters as saying.
According to Israeli media, some 95,000 demonstrators took part in the Saturday rally in Tel Aviv.
The demonstrations have been a weekly occurrence since Netanyahu announced his plan to have the Knesset approve the overhaul.
Netanyahu's cabinet, which is a crossover between his Likud party and its extremist and ultra-Orthodox allies, claims the changes are necessary to strike a balance in the power that is wielded by the regime's various ruling branches.
Faced with thousands-strong demonstrations and a wave of general strikes, Netanyahu announced a "pause" in the reforms in late March to allegedly enable negotiations on the scheme.
Despite that move, he said on Sunday that his cabinet will keep unilaterally advancing the elements of the so-called judicial overhaul plan this week.
Addressing a weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu stressed that the regime would begin advancing "practical steps" to "fix" the judicial system against the backdrop of stalled negotiations involving opposition leader Yair Lapid and former minister of military affairs, Benny Gantz.
Reacting to Netanyahu’s announcement, leaders of the protest groups against the judicial overhaul said in a statement that his threats against the judicial system will be met with protests and disruptions "that will lead to the failure of every attempt to damage the judicial system.”
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