World News | Israelis protest proposed law changes for 10th week

TEL AVIV, March 11 (AP) Tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated Saturday against a controversial judicial reform plan as the government moves forward with it.

For more than two months, nationwide demonstrations have been held regularly every week.

Read also | SVB crisis: Silicon Valley Bank CEO Greg Becker sold $3.5 million worth of stock two weeks before collapse.

Despite the demonstrations, Netanyahu and his allies have pledged to advance a series of bills that would strip the Supreme Court of its ability to review legislation and give coalition politicians control over judicial appointments.

Critics say the changes will undermine the country’s system of checks and balances and concentrate power in the hands of the prime minister and his allies.

Read also | US health agencies have debunked Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo’s COVID-19 vaccine claims.

Protester Einat Gival-Levi said: “We are protesting because to do otherwise would be like submission and we will never agree to the abolition of democracy in this country. Raise Worldwide awareness is really important.”

Hundreds of Israeli women’s rights activists dressed as characters from the TV series “The Handmaid’s Tale” marched into central Tel Aviv to join the main protest.

The uproar over Benjamin Netanyahu’s government’s legal reform plans has plunged Israel into one of its worst domestic crises. In addition to the protests, which have drawn tens of thousands of Israelis to the streets and recently turned violent, there has been a surge of opposition from across the spectrum, with business leaders and legal officials speaking out against what they say is the damaging impact of the plan.

Netanyahu had to be flown to the country’s main international airport on Thursday for an overseas trip after hordes of cars and protesters prevented him from driving there.

The rift has not spared the Israeli army, which has encountered unprecedented opposition within its own ranks.

Critics also say Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, is motivated by personal vendettas and can find a way to evade charges through clean-up. Netanyahu has denied wrongdoing and said the law change had nothing to do with his trial.

The protests are largely dominated by the country’s secular middle class. The Palestinian minority, who make up about 20 percent of Israel’s population, is largely excluded, in part because of discrimination they face in Israel and Israel’s treatment of their fellow Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. (Associated Press)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)