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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cuts short his planned visit to Germany and stays in Berlin for only one day. The reason is the political situation in Israel and the extensive regime-critical protests that are ongoing.
Protesters gathered on Wednesday at Ben Gurion International Airport from where Netanyahu was scheduled to fly to Germany.
“Dictator on the run” and “Don’t come back” were written on banners held up by protesters.
Netanyahu’s government office announced on Wednesday that the prime minister is shortening the official visit from two days to one, thus returning as early as Thursday.
But Netanyahu is said to face extensive protests in Berlin as well. The security around the Waldorf Astoria hotel and around the presidential palace Bellevue is extensive.
Prime Minister Netanyahu is to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The protests mainly concern the judicial and legal changes that Netanyahu’s governing coalition wants to implement. One of the proposals concerns a reduced mandate for the country’s highest court.
Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, can reject a Supreme Court ruling with a simple majority under the proposal. The law has been approved at a first reading in the Knesset. The protests against the far-right government’s proposal have been going on for ten weeks.