Israeli settlers protest Netanyahu's judicial reforms by the thousands

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
11 Jun 2023 00:26

Israeli settlers are taking to the street to protest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's controversial judicial overhaul bid as his far-right government still wants to push forward with the plan.

A demonstrator wearing a rubber mask depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a protest against plans by his government to overhaul the judicial system, in 'Tel Aviv', occupied Palestine, June 10, 2023 (AP)

Israelis on Saturday took to the streets in the hundreds of thousands throughout the occupied Palestinian territories to protest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's contentious judicial overhaul bid for the 23rd week straight.

The protests come despite Netanyahu announcing in March a "pause" in a bid to allow for talks on the issue causing mass protests all over occupied Palestine.

A new poll shows that Netanyahu's coalition is losing public support in light of the government's controversial justice reform bill and escalating internal crisis, Israeli media reported.

In central "Tel Aviv", where thousands have gathered according to an AFP correspondent, one demonstrator said, "our country is being captured by extreme people... we're being held hostage."

"We have been here... with our kids, in the rain or hot weather" for 23 weeks, he added.

Organizers claimed that more demonstrations were taking place across all over occupied Palestine, including in Haifa and "Rehovot".

An estimated 95,000 Israeli settlers participated in the main rally on "Kaplan Street" in "Tel Aviv" last week, and many smaller demonstrations were also staged in other cities, most notably occupied Al-Quds and Haifa, as per Israeli media reports.

Meanwhile, a recent poll shows that Netanyahu's coalition is losing public support in light of the government's controversial justice reform bill and escalating internal crisis, Israeli media reported.

Israeli media added that negotiations kicked off between the ruling parties under the auspices of the occupation's President, Isaac Herzog, last month in order to reach a broad settlement, but the opposition still doubts Netanyahu's intentions, and no settlement has been reached.

It is worth noting that Israeli media reported violent clashes earlier between Israeli occupation police and protesters who demonstrated near Netanyahu's residence last Friday.

According to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, clashes broke out between Israeli police and protesters near Netanyahu's private residence in "Caesarea". The report stated that Israeli forces arrested four Israeli settlers and broke the nose of one of them.

Political divisions in "Israel" continue to deepen between the government and the opposition. "Israel" has witnessed several protests by thousands of settlers against the occupation's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in which demonstrators express their opposition to the judicial reforms it plans to enact.

The opposition has demanded the complete cancellation of these amendments despite the government's decision to temporarily suspend them.

The protests, which began in December last year, saw the participation of tens of thousands of settlers and later transformed into massive demonstrations where around a quarter of a million settlers took to the streets against Netanyahu's plans that set to undermine occupation courts and further empower security and military institutions.