11 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
More than 200,000 people, according to the organizing organizations, demonstrated this Saturday in Israel against the judicial reform promoted by the ultra-conservative government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Specifically, some 145,000 people have taken to the streets in Tel Aviv, while in the rest of the country’s cities there are 83,000 attendees, according to the organizers, quoted by the newspaper ‘The Times of Israel’. There is no official estimate of assistance from the authorities.
The Tel Aviv demonstration has started from Rothschild Boulevard and has crossed Kaplan Street. The Police have subsequently allowed the march on the Ayalon highway between Israeli flags and slogans such as “The destruction of democracy is underway.”
Former Justice Minister Tzipi Livni explained from Kaplan Street that “we are not on the streets because of the election result, but because of what you have done since you were elected.” “Personal laws, a political seizure of public controls, persecution of officials,… This madness has a name. Fascism”, she has underlined.
The protest has been reproduced in other cities such as Jerusalem, Haifa, Beersheba, Karmiel or Petah Tikva and for the first time since the start of the mobilizations, in a West Bank settlement, Efrat.
In Jerusalem, the protesters have gathered in front of the official headquarters of the Presidency and have observed a minute of silence for the three Israelis killed on Friday by an Arab-Israeli who rammed his car into them at a bus stop in East Jerusalem.
The protest has resulted in massive demonstrations every Saturday night and a general strike is called this Monday, coinciding with the first vote on the bill. The norm has to pass three favorable readings in the Knesset or Parliament, so Netanyahu expects it to be approved by April.
