Hundreds of thousands protest judicial reform despite negotiations

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Tel Aviv and cities across Israel to protests against the government’s porposed judicial overhaul plans for a 13th straight week.

According to the Umbrella Movement of Resistance against Dictatorship in Israel, over 450,000 Israelis had participated in Saturday night's various protests across the country.

Approximately 170,000 protested the government’s judicial overhaul in Tel Aviv alone, Channel 12 and Ynet reported.

The heads of the protest movement say demonstrations are planned in 150 locations across the country.

Demonstrations against the judicial overhaul come despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pausing the Knesset process of the overhaul to allow for negotiations on a compromise package on Monday.

A new demonstration by opponents of the reform also took place in Modiin, in front of the home of Justice Minister Yariv Levin. 

Protest organizers have announced that they will continue to organize demonstrations until the proposed legislation is taken off the table, as the agreement between the prime minister and Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir calls for a resumption to the process following the Passover holiday.

Saturday's anti-reform protests come two days after those in favor of the government's plan held their own rallies. Tens of thousands of Israelis in support of their government’s judicial overhaul plan took to the streets on Thursday, the second such march since Netanyahu paused the legislation. Waving flags of Netanyahu’s Likud party, some 20,000 protestors marched through Tel Aviv, the site of the largest anti-government protests over the last few months. “The nation demands legal reform!” chanted some of the demonstrators in the counter-protest.

The right-wing Im Tirtzu group organized the “March for Freedom” with the aim of “being freed from the restraints of the High Court,” declaring that the people “have chosen judicial reform.” Many marchers carried signs bearing the words “I’m a second-class citizen” or “They’re stealing the election,” as some marched onto Tel Aviv’s Ayalon highway, blocking traffic. 

“You see here people demanding their democratic right. We want our voice to be heard, families are here saying we voted, that’s democracy,” a protestor told i24NEWS. 

Israel Police said it deployed a large number of officers to the route – the scene of almost weekly stoppages by protestors who see Netanyahu’s plan as a threat to judicial independence.