10:36 PM
Saturday, January 21, 2023
Tel Aviv – (dpa)
More than 100,000 people demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Saturday against the new government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to police estimates.
The demonstrators, who denounce Netanyahu’s coalition as the most right-wing in the country’s history, gathered on the third consecutive Saturday evening in several locations in the center of the Israeli coastal city.
The demonstrators waved the Israeli flag. Posters read “Stop the end of democracy” and pictures of Netanyahu with the word “criminal” were shown. Former Prime Minister Yair Lapid participated in the march. The number of participants is expected to increase during the evening.
Demonstrations were also announced in the cities of Jerusalem, Haifa and Beersheba.
The protests were mainly directed against the government’s intention to deliberately weaken the country’s judicial system. According to the plans of Justice Minister Yariv Levin, a majority in parliament should be able to pass a law, even if in the opinion of the Supreme Court it violates the Basic Law.
Levin also wants to change the composition of the body that appoints judges. Far-reaching changes could also benefit Netanyahu in his current corruption trial.
The protests were fueled this week by a far-reaching Supreme Court ruling. The justices ruled on Wednesday that the Israeli Minister of Interior and Health, Aryeh Deri, could not keep his post. The judges based their verdict on Deri’s repeated convictions.
