Massive protests resume in Israel

The Israeli opposition once again staged massive protests Saturday night against judicial reform, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to put the project on hold until at least the summer. According to TASS, the largest demonstration took place, as in previous weeks, in Tel Aviv.

The demonstrators first held a large procession with torches and pyrotechnics along the central boulevards of the city, where they chanted anti-government slogans, waved Israeli flags and demanded a complete abandonment of the judicial reform project. Thousands of protesters shouted: “Israel is not a dictatorship”, “Democracy or rebellion.” The march ended near the complex of government buildings in the east of the city, where, according to tradition, a rally of thousands took place.

The organizers of the demonstration stressed that they continue to carry out these actions, because they do not have confidence in the statements of the prime minister and members of his cabinet about a pause to find a compromise on judicial reform. According to the opposition, the ruling coalition is only trying to buy time and bring down the protest wave. “Four weeks separate us from the adoption of laws on the dictatorship. Anyone who has read the statements of the Minister of Justice or other officials understands that, unfortunately, they do not want to reach a broad agreement, but only want to buy time and lull the protests, ”the protest movement organizing committee said in a statement.

Mass opposition protests have been held in Israel for the 13th week in a row. In addition to the largest rally in Tel Aviv, demonstrations took place in many other cities. In particular, a large rally was held in Haifa. In total, according to the organizers, the rallies that evening took place in 150 different locations across the country.