Tens of thousands of Israelis joined protests around the country against judicial reforms to reduce powers of the High Court put forward by the right-wing government of Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. This is the ninth weekend in a row that such protests took place.
According to official estimates cited in local media, some 160 thousand people turned out to the Tel Aviv demo. Many more thousands joined smaller rallies in other Israeli cities, with some citing a grand total as high as 250 thousand.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir slammed the protesters as “anarchists,” echoing Netanyahu’s rhetoric.
Police tried preventing protesters from blocking the Ayalon highway, one of Israel’s main traffic arteries, yet while some crowd control methods were deployed, it passed without major incident.
On Wednesday the wave of protests saw its most violent episode yet as police clashed with protesters, resulting in the arrest of 39 people and 11 others sustaining light injuries.
Demonstrators in Tel Aviv blocked some streets, and police employed stun grenades, water cannon and officers on horseback in a rare use of force in the coastal liberal hub.
Those arrested were detained for “rioting and not obeying instructions by police officials,” police said in a statement. –i24 News