Despite suspension, Israelis continue to protest law reform

Tens of thousands of Israelis protested Saturday over a controversial plan to overhaul the country’s legal system, even though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended the reforms earlier this week.

Protesters gathered in Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial center in the Mediterranean, for their 13th weekly demonstration, holding up Israeli flags and banners against what they said were plans to weaken the Supreme Court. Several smaller rallies were also held in other towns.

The protests have continued since the country’s historically right-wing Netanyahu government introduced reforms.

However, protest organizers have vowed to keep up the pressure to cancel the plans.

The proposal plunged Israel into its worst domestic crisis in decades. Business leaders, top economists and a former security chief have all opposed the plan, saying it is pushing the country toward authoritarianism.

Fighter pilots and reservists threatened not to go to work, and the country’s currency, the shekel, was devalued.

It would also give the parliament, controlled by his allies, the power to overturn Supreme Court rulings and limit the court’s ability to review laws.

Mr Netanyahu has argued that sweeping reforms are needed to rein in a liberal and overly interventionist court filled with unelected judges.

But his opponents say the package would undermine the country’s system of checks and balances by concentrating power in the hands of Mr Netanyahu’s allies.

They also said he had a conflict of interest as a criminal defendant.