Israelis have been protesting for weeks against the regulation of the coalition government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that limits the powers of the judiciary.
MORE THAN 100 THOUSAND PEOPLE ATTENDED THE SQUARE
Israelis, who hold mass demonstrations every Saturday evening against the judicial regulation of the extreme right-wing coalition government led by Netanyahu, again took to the squares across the country in the 27th week of the protests. More than 100,000 Israelis participated in demonstrations in many points across the country, especially in cities such as Tel Aviv, West Jerusalem, Haifa, Birussebi and Rehovot.
The anti-Netanyahu protest movement announced that about 180,000 demonstrators attended the protest in Tel Aviv.
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in front of the Government Complex on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv, which hosts the largest demonstration, as it does every week.
GIANT PANELS OPENED
The demonstrators, who often chanted “democracy” slogans with Israeli flags, carried banners, banners and pictures criticizing the extreme right-wing politicians in the coalition government. The demonstrators said, “Resist. The most important thing is to be fearless.” unfurled a giant banner.
The historian Yuval Noah Harari, author of the book “Sapiens”, who participated in the protests here as a speaker, said that the Netanyahu government divided the Jewish community around the world. Harari stated that “Netanyahu’s government must stop the coup, otherwise they will stop the country.”
Some anti-Israeli protesters in Tel Aviv also chanted slogans against the Israeli army’s attack on Jenin in the north of the occupied West Bank, carrying banners that read “Occupation does not have democracy” and “Palestinian lives matter”.
INTERVENTION WITH TOMA AGAINST SHOWS CLOSING THE HIGHWAY
Some demonstrators blocked Tel Aviv’s main artery, the Ayalon Highway, one-way. Israeli police used TOMA and force against the demonstrators who blocked the highway. In some streets in Tel Aviv, the police intervened with mounted units on the demonstrators. At some points, clashes broke out between the demonstrators and the police.
On the other hand, thousands of demonstrators gathered in front of the Presidential Residence in West Jerusalem. The family of Palestinian autistic Iyad Hayri Hallak, who was shot dead by police in occupied East Jerusalem in 2020, also attended the demonstration in West Jerusalem. Likewise, a group of demonstrators in Tel Aviv asked, “Who killed Iyad?” unfolded banner.
The Israeli Court had acquitted the police officer who shot Hallak this week on the grounds that he had “made a mistake” and “defended himself”.
DEFERRED JURISDICTION
The “judicial reform” announced by Israeli Minister of Justice Yariv Levin on January 5 includes changes such as limiting the powers of the Supreme Court and the power to have a say in judicial appointments.
Netanyahu announced on March 27 that he postponed the judicial regulation, which caused increasing mass protests and strikes across the country.
However, Netanyahu announced that they would bring the judicial regulation back to the agenda after the 2023-2024 budget was passed by the Parliament at the end of May.
After the negotiations on judicial regulation between the Netanyahu coalition and the opposition stalled, the government recently pressed the button again within the scope of judicial regulation.
The government passed a bill this week that would lift the Supreme Court’s control over the government.
Tel Aviv Police Chief Ami Eshed resigned, citing pressure from the government for the police to respond more forcefully to the protests.
The protest movement in Israel, which opposes the judicial regulation and other right-wing policies of the Netanyahu government, has been continuing its demonstrations across the country for 6 months. (AA)