Over 200,000 Israeli Protesters Demand Halt Netanyahu’s Judicial Reform

July 22 (EUROPA PRESS) –

More than 200,000 people took to the streets of the main Israeli cities this Saturday to demand that the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, halt the processing of the controversial judicial reform on a day in which more than 11,000 reservists have announced that they will cease their military service in protest of the initiative.

Some 85,000 people have gathered in front of the Israeli Parliament or Knesset headquarters after a four-day march from Tel Aviv, according to figures published by ‘The Times of Israel’ and prepared by Crowd Solutions.

In addition, a “tent city” has already begun to be set up in the city’s Saker Park, very close to the parliamentary headquarters, an action organized by the organizers of the protests and which they assure will not be dismantled until the judicial reform is withdrawn.

Meanwhile, on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv, the epicenter of the weekly protests that have shaken the country for 29 weeks, there are some 100,000 people. In Haifa there are 14,000 protesters and 10,000 more in Netanya.

Meanwhile, the Israeli prime minister has met with the deputies of the coalition and has underlined the previous position: if a consensus agreement with the opposition is not reached, this Monday the first judicial reform law will be approved as planned, which limits the ability of the courts to restrict, question and challenge the initiatives and decisions of the executive branch, according to Channel 12.

In addition, Channel 12 has assured that there have been no contacts over the weekend between the leaders of the coalition and the leaders of the opposition, Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz.

According to Channel 12 sources, Netanyahu would not be willing to agree to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s proposal to postpone the Knesset’s summer recess to give more time to reach an agreement, either.

Meanwhile, the leader of the opposition, Yair Lapid, of the centrist Yesh Atid party, has assured during an act in Moddin that he will have to choose between the law that is expected to be approved on Monday and the Israeli Armed Forces.

“There are only two possibilities for the government in the coming days: either destroy the country or destroy itself. Either destroy the Army, the economy and relations with the Americans, or not,” Lapid said, according to ‘The Times of Israel’. “Netanyahu has to choose whether he prefers the Israel Defense Forces or the ‘reasonableness’ clause” that nullifies the proposed law, he has riveted.