For 25th week, tens of thousands of Israeli settlers rally against gov

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli media
25 Jun 2023 00:22
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Crowd Solutions website says 95,000 Israeli settlers participated in the demonstration on "Kaplan Street" in "Tel Aviv" against the judicial overhaul.

An aerial picture shows Israeli settlers lifting a large banner during a protest in "Tel Aviv" on May 27, 2023 (AFP)

Demonstrations against the government of Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and its plan to pass a judicial overhaul were renewed for the 25th consecutive week in "Tel Aviv", Israeli media reported on Saturday.

The media cited the Crowd Solutions website as saying that 95,000 Israeli settlers participated in the demonstration on "Kaplan Street" in "Tel Aviv".

The protests come ahead of the Knesset's "Constitution, Law and Justice Committee" meetings on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday to resume legislation related to the judicial overhaul, after nearly a three-month halt due to massive violent protests staged by the opposition that the Israeli occupation witnessed in rejection of the controversial amendments that would limit the power of the Supreme Court.

Tens of thousands of Israeli settlers demonstrated in dozens of locations. The Israeli police preempted the demonstrations by blocking several main streets in "Tel Aviv" and occupied Haifa, Israeli media reported.

On Saturday night, the so-called "Kaplan Force" was launched at the main demonstration on "Kaplan Street". According to the organizers of the protests, the force will reportedly stage a series of protest activities before the end of the summer session of the Knesset on July 31, including the closure of Ben Gurion Airport, seaports, government buildings, and major road junctions.

The force pointed out that the previous protests were "child's play" compared to what would happen if Netanyahu's government enforces the legislation.

According to Israeli media, the "Kaplan Force" blocked "Ayalon Highway" to incoming traffic during Saturday's protests and clashed with the occupation police.

In addition, 300 reserve doctors warned that they would not show up to service in case the Netanyahu government took any unilateral step and did not back down from the judicial overhaul.

The protests come amid a stalemate in overhaul negotiations between the government and the opposition after the latter decided last week to freeze the talks that were being held at Israeli occupation President Isaac Herzog's residence, which came after Netanyahu attempted to fail a vote to nominate two Knesset members to the critical Judicial Selection Committee — the body that supporters of the judicial overhaul had sought to drastically alter.

Israeli media reported that after compelling all but one coalition MK to withdraw from the contest, Netanyahu urged his coalition to vote against both candidates for the body, essentially postponing the elections for 30 days.

However, several Likud members voted for opposition candidate MK Karine Elharrar, who was elected to the body. The voting for the panel's second MK will take place in the next weeks.