VIDEOS: Netanyahu critics hold torchlight protest against judicial reform in Israel

The concentrations of this day occurred after the Government rejected an alternative proposal formulated by President Isaac Herzog.

Thousands of people they flooded again this Thursday the streets of Tel Aviv with torchesthus continuing his protest against the plans of the conservative government of Benjamin Netanyahu to radically reform the country’s judicial system, which would diminish the powers of that branch of government power.

The concentration tonight, which was preceded by demonstrations across the country Throughout the day with tens of thousands of participants, it started from Habima Square, continued through the central streets and reached the seafront, where the US consulate is located.

The congregants sang songs and they carried banners in defense of democracy. Apart from the Israeli flags, those of the LGBTQ+ community were waving, which denounces that their rights will be trampled if the Executive initiative prospers, collects Haaretz.

Meanwhile, during the day’s protests there were clashes between police and protesters in Tel Aviv. As a result, at least 21 individuals were arrested across the country, including several who assaulted participants in the uprisings.

The president’s plan

These demonstrations occurred after the Netanyahu government reject an alternative proposal to the reform presented by the country’s president, Isaac Herzog, on Wednesday night, after weeks of consultations with experts and politicians.

Defending his plan, Herzog called the initiative “a golden path” that protects citizens as well as the Jewish nation as a “democratic state.” “Strengthens the independence and autonomy of the judicial systemand also human and civil rights (of all Israelis), men and women alike, including minorities in Israel,” he said, quoted by The Times of Israel.

He also warned that “the abyss is close at hand”, but assured that he will strive “at all costs” to prevent the country from submerging “in a civil war”. “I won’t let that happen,” she promised.

For his part, Netanyahu stressed that the framework formulated by Herzog is “completely one-sided”. “How do we know? Because one part accepts it and the other rejects it,” said the prime minister.

• Last Saturday, hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets in Israel for the tenth week in a row, which, by some estimates, marked the largest protest in the nation’s history.
• The reform project contemplates granting the Executive a decisive influence in the selection of judges and limits the scope of the Supreme Court to repeal laws or rule against the Government.
• Critics consider this would greatly weaken the independence of the judiciarysince Israel does not have a Constitution, but only a commission of the Parliament, controlled by the government coalition, to settle such matters.