Tens of thousands of Israelis rally against judicial overhaul for 10th week

Critics say proposed changes are a threat to Israeli democracy, as Benjamin Netanyahu’s government presses on with agenda, shuns calls for negotiations

Reforms would give more weight to the government in the committee that selects judges, deny the Supreme Court the right to strike down amendments to Israel’s quasi-constitution

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Demonstrators lift national flags during a protest against the Israeli government’s controversial judicial reform bill in Tel Aviv on Saturday. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:15am, 12 Mar 2023Updated: 9:30am, 12 Mar 2023

Tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated across the country on Saturday in the 10th consecutive week of protests against government judicial reform plans that critics view as a threat to democracy.

The demonstrations come as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right government prepares to press on with its legislative agenda this week, shunning calls for a pause to allow for negotiations on the divisive plan.

The biggest demonstration, in the coastal city of Tel Aviv, drew some 100,000 protesters, according to estimates given by Israeli media.

Many of them were waving blue and white Israeli flags.

Israeli women’s rights activists dressed as characters in the popular television series “The Handmaid’s Tale” protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to overhaul the judicial system, in Tel Aviv on Saturday. Photo: AP

“I’m demonstrating because the measures that the new government wants to take represent a real and immediate threat to Israeli democracy,” said one protester, tech entrepreneur Ran Shahor.