TEL AVIV (Dispatches) – Tens of thousands again took to the streets of Tel Aviv late Saturday to protest the entity’s extremist direction under hardline prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The protests came as U.S. rating agency Moody’s downgraded Israel’s credit rating, signaling the potential for an economic uproar against the Zionist regime’s proposals.
The 15th consecutive week of protest came after Netanyahu on March 27 announced a “pause” to allow for dialogue on the changes which were moving through parliament and split the occupied territories.
More than 100,000 people participated in the main demonstration in Tel Aviv, according to Israeli broadcaster Channel 12.
Smaller protests also took place in the northern port of Haifa and outside the home of so-called justice minister Yariv Levin in Modiin.
Protest organizers, who have held these weekly protests for more than three months, aim to maintain momentum and increase pressure on Netanyahu and his regime until the proposed changes are scrapped.
Karen Baron, a 45-year-old Tel Aviv psychiatrist, said: “I didn’t want to come today but my sister told me, ‘We have no choice’, and it’s true. We have no choice -- we can’t lower our guard.”
The proposals would curtail the authority of the supreme court and give politicians greater powers over the selection of judges.
Netanyahu’s regime, a coalition between his Likud party and extreme-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies, argues the changes are needed to rebalance powers between lawmakers and the judiciary.
Facing opposition from civil society, parts of the army and even within his own cabinet, Netanyahu paused the overhaul plans in late March, saying he wanted “to avoid civil war”.
The plan would give Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges, and his allies in Israel’s most hardline regime the final say in appointing the nation’s judges.