Tel Aviv: Thousands of protesters blockaded Israel’s main airport and highways on Tuesday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right coalition pressed ahead with a justice bill that has opened the deepest splits seen in the country in decades.
A day after parliament passed a key element in the bill, which aims to curb the power of the Supreme Court, crowds of flag-waving protesters stopped morning traffic in major intersections and on highways nationwide. Some lay down on roads, while others threw flares.
Police on horseback deployed among hundreds of demonstrators in Israel’s business hub, Tel Aviv. At the entrance to Jerusalem, officers used a water cannon to disperse some protesters and dragged others away by force. At least 66 people were arrested, police said.
Around 1000 police were deployed at Ben Gurion airport, outside Tel Aviv, where thousands of protesters turned the area in front of the main entrance into a sea of blue and white Israeli flags. A spokesman for the airport said flights were not affected, despite the large crowds.
The United States, which has called for the independence of the judiciary to be protected and urged Netanyahu to try to build consensus for the proposals, said Israel should respect the right of peaceful protest.
The drive by Netanyahu’s nationalist-religious coalition to change the justice system has led to unprecedented protests, stirred concern for Israel’s democratic health among Western allies, and bruised the economy.
Read the article by Rami Amichay in The Sydney Morning Herald.