Thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets to protest plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government that opponents say threaten democracy and freedoms.
The protesters gathered in the central city of Tel Aviv days after the most right-wing and religiously conservative government in the country’s 74-year history was sworn in.
“The settler government is against me,” read one placard. Another banner read, “Housing, Livelihood, Hope.” Some protesters carried rainbow flags.
The protest was led by left-wing and Arab members of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. They contend that proposed plans by the new Cabinet will hinder the judicial system and widen societal gaps.
The left-wing protesters slammed Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who on Wednesday unveiled the government’s long-promised overhaul of the judicial system that aims to weaken the country’s Supreme Court.
Critics accused the government of declaring war on the legal system, saying the plan will upend Israel’s system of checks and balances and undermine its democratic institutions by giving absolute power to the new governing coalition.
“We are really afraid that our country is going to lose the democracy and we are going to a dictatorship just for reasons of one person which wants to get rid of his law trial,” said Danny Simon, 77, a protester from Yavne, south of Tel Aviv.
Read the article by Shlomo Mor in The Canberra Times.