In Tel Aviv alone, about 160,000 Israelis take to the streets against judicial reforms The French government is investigating conscription for 15-17 year olds

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in several Israeli cities to protest against the controversial reform of the judicial system. A large demonstration took place in the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv on the ninth Saturday evening, with some 160,000 demonstrators taking part, according to media reports. Protests also broke out in other cities such as Haifa and Netanya.

According to police in Tel Aviv, about 200 protesters broke through a roadblock and blocked the main thoroughfare into Jerusalem. A water cannon was deployed. According to media reports, arrests have been made.

At a protest in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, there were already violent confrontations and several protesters were injured. There were complaints of excessive police brutality.

separation of powers in jeopardy

Judiciary reform is progressing despite violent protests from large segments of the population. According to plans by the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, parliament should be able to overturn Supreme Court decisions by a simple majority in the future. In addition, politicians should be given more influence in the appointment of judges.

The proposed law could also play into the hands of the head of government in a corruption trial against Netanyahu that has been underway for some time. Netanyahu sparked outrage on Wednesday when he compared anti-reform protesters to violent settlers who wreaked havoc after an attack in the Palestinian town of Howara.

Critics see the reform as a threat to the separation of powers and warn that Israel could turn into a dictatorship. The government, on the other hand, argues that the Supreme Court currently exercises too much political influence.

During the anti-reform demonstrations, women can often be seen in long red coats and white bonnets disguised as characters from the television series “The Handmaid’s Tale”. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, first published in 1985, is a dystopian tale of a dictatorship in which women are primarily oppressed. With the disguise, the protesters are expressing their fear that Israel could move in such a political direction in the course of weakening the judiciary.

(dsc/sda/dpa)