Published: Less than 30 min ago
The protests continue against the Israeli government’s plans to cut the wings of the country’s courts.
On Sunday, the country’s army chief was ordered to quell protests against the proposal among military personnel.
During Saturday, a quarter of a million demonstrated around Israel.
Saturday’s demonstration march was met in several places by perpetrators of violence from the right wing.
In the Tel Aviv suburb of Kiryat Ono, a masked man shot fireworks at the protesters, in Or Kiva three people were arrested for throwing eggs at them, and in Kfar Uria locals threw stones and smoke grenades. In addition, they took the protesters’ megaphone and burned it, reports the liberal daily Haaretz.
Motorists also reacted negatively to the demonstrations. In Herzliya, a man was arrested for allegedly running over a protester and assaulting others as they blocked the road, while at least three car drivers attacked protesters with pepper spray in Tel Aviv. It was unclear what caused the motorists’ attacks.
Saturday’s demonstrations with around 250,000 participants took place in places throughout the country, apart from Tel Aviv also in Jerusalem, Netanya and Beer Sheva, among others.
Last weekend, the largest demonstrations in the country’s history were held. Then half a million took to the streets.
Eleven weekends in a row, large demonstrations have now taken place in the country, since Israel’s most right-wing government ever presented a proposal to strangle the independence of the courts.
If the changes are implemented, critics say that politicians will gain power over the courts, that the country will become more authoritarian and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will get a chance to avoid punishment in the corruption case against him.
The government, for its part, believes that the Israeli courts today have too much power, which prevents the politicians from carrying out the wishes of the voters, reports the Associated Press news agency.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded that the country’s army chief end protests within the military against the court changes. On Sunday, more than 700 elite officers declared they would refuse to undergo retraining unless plans for legal changes were scrapped.
“I expect the army chief and the heads of the security services to aggressively combat any refusal to serve,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said on Sunday.
The day before, Jacob Frenkel, former head of the Israeli Riksbank, had strongly criticized the government’s court plans:
– Stop the craziness and change yourselves, he said in a direct appeal to Netanyahu.
The right-wing Israeli government calls the protesters anarchists. The Prime Minister’s son, Yair Netanyahu, has gone even further and claims they are terrorists.