TEL AVIV (Dispatches) -- More than 450,000 people have demonstrated throughout Occupied Palestine, despite a delay announced by the Netanyahu regime to a controversial judicial overhaul.
Rallies were held in Tel Aviv, Al-Quds and other cities, with the largest, in Tel Aviv, drawing 170,000 people, including opposition leader Yair Lapid.
There were clashes with the police, and officers arrested some demonstrators. Police in Tel Aviv used water cannon on the demonstrators.
The occupied territories have been roiled by similar mass protests for 12 consecutive weeks, due to plans for a highly controversial judicial overhaul
The plan was postponed by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a few weeks on Monday after massive protests and a general strike, to “make room for dialogue.”
Talks have been held since Tuesday between the governing coalition and the opposition in an attempt to resolve the issue.
But opposition politicians have repeatedly questioned Netanyahu’s seriousness in wanting to reach a compromise.
“Netanyahu’s attempt to put the protesters to sleep failed,” said the organizers of the Umbrella movement later on Saturday. “Over 445,000 demonstrators took to the streets of Israel tonight, in one of the largest demonstrations in Israeli history. We will continue to be in the streets.”
Earlier, the organizers said that the regime did not want to reach an agreement. “It just wants to buy time to enact a judicial coup,” they said.
With the judicial overhaul, Netanyahu’s alt-right coalition is seeking to curtail the influence of the supreme court and expand his power.
It accuses the court of excessive interference in political decisions.
In the future, parliament would be able to overturn decisions of the supreme court with a simple majority under the proposed changes.
Critics see the separation of powers in danger and warn of a state crisis if the overhaul is implemented in this way.