Renewed protests in 'Tel Aviv', thousands chant 'you ruined Israel'

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli Media
3 Aug 2023 11:14

Protests against the Israeli occupation's government judicial overhaul plans renew in "Tel Aviv".

Israelis march in support of the judicial system during a protest against the plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul it, in "Tel Aviv", occupied Palestine, Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2023 (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Thousands of Israelis demonstrated on Wednesday in "Tel Aviv" against the judicial overhaul put forward by the government of Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after the Israeli Knesset passed, a couple of weeks ago, in a final vote a bill to restrict the "reasonableness law", implying that the reason of the cabinet surpasses that of the judiciary.

Demonstrators accused the Israeli government of ruining "Israel", which has become a center for protests against the Netanyahu government since the judicial overhaul plan was first announced in January.

The proposed overhaul drew criticism from allies of the occupation, including the United States, as President Joe Biden has repeatedly expressed his concerns, and has called on the occupation officials not to hurry with the "divisive" plans.

Israeli media reported last week that demonstrations against the judicial overhaul plan have entered their 30th consecutive week, while Netanyahu's coalition continues to push its plan to weaken the judiciary without any significant agreement with the Israeli opposition.

According to the Israeli media, about 160,000 demonstrators took to "Kaplan Street" in "Tel Aviv" against the overhaul.

For the 30th week in a row: 150 thousand Israelis demonstrated in Tel Aviv tonight and tens of thousands more in other cities across the country against Netanyahu's judicial overhaul (photo: Gilad First) pic.twitter.com/cO7QNnTToT
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) July 29, 2023

The media highlighted that the protests extended to several cities and towns in occupied Palestine, as about 17,000 demonstrators took to the streets of Kafr Saba, about 11,000 protested in Haifa, and about 3,800 in "Herzliya", north of "Tel Aviv".

Protest organizers stated that the demonstrations would shift from the phase of containment to losing control and going onto the offensive.

More than half of Israelis fear 'internal war' in 'Israel': Poll

Last week, a poll published by the Israeli newspaper Maariv showed that 58% of Israeli settlers fear an actual internal war in the Israeli occupation entity, amid chaos and division in an Israeli settler community over the judicial overhaul.

The results of the poll, which was conducted by Lazar Research, showed that only 38% of Israelis said they are not concerned about an actual internal war, while 4% said they are not sure.

According to the poll, the majority of the concerns about a possible internal war in the occupation entity was among opposition voters, who reached 76%, compared to 55% of those who voted for the parties of the current coalition of Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said that they do not fear that matters will reach this extent.

On July 17, Maariv also published an opinion poll that showed that 45% of settlers believe that there is a high possibility in the foreseeable future of a violent internal war in "Israel".

The poll revealed that 43% of Netanyahu's Likud voters believe that judicial amendments should be abandoned to strengthen "national unity", while 70% of the respondents believed that demonstrations outside the homes of elected officials are legitimate.

Also last week, former Israeli occupation prime minister Ehud Olmert told the British news outlet Channel 4 News that "Israel" is nearing an internal war.

"There is a threat. This is a serious threat," Olmert said. "It’s never happened before and we are going into a civil war now."

This also comes as an increasing number of Israeli reservists are ending or threatening to end their military service in protest against the judicial overhaul.