Israel: an anti-Netanyahu demonstration has degenerated

Israeli forces clashed with protesters as tens of thousands held large-scale rallies against the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right cabinet for the 27th consecutive week.Thousands of protesters against the Israeli regime's hardline cabinet and its policies, including Netanyahu's unpopular judicial reform plan, gathered on Saturday (July 8th) in the coastal city of Tel Aviv and elsewhere in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Israeli media described the demonstration in Tel Aviv as the largest to have taken over the city in weeks. While Zionist regime media put the number of protesters in Tel Aviv at nearly 150,000, organizers said nearly 180,000 people took part.In Tel Aviv, protesters blocked the Ayalon highway in several places, before Tel Aviv regime forces used water cannons to disperse them.Police said officers arrested two people at the anti-judicial review rally in Tel Aviv for "disorderly conduct"."Dozens of protesters blocked the vehicle taking the detainees from the scene," a police spokeswoman said.

Hundreds of protesters also gathered outside the home of Israeli Military Affairs Minister Yoav Gallant in the northern town of Amikam.During a rally against the judicial overhaul in the central city of Herzliya, protesters set fire to tires, blocking a number of streets. Israeli forces arrested one person for lighting a flare.tens of thousands of protesters held similar rallies in other cities in the occupied territories of Palestine.Netanyahu's judicial overhaul plan aims to remove a number of powers from Israel's Supreme Court to make it unable to overrule decisions made by the far-right cabinet.

It also seeks to give sweeping powers to the political elite in the process of appointing judges to the court.Faced with overwhelming protests and a wave of industrial action, Netanyahu suspended the program in late March to allow talks on the matter.However, deeming negotiations pointless last month, he relaunched his bid to push through the reform package, claiming he had made new, more moderate proposals.Proponents of the Zionist entity claim that it introduces a certain balance in the power wielded by the different branches of the Israeli regime. Its opponents, however, say that once ratified, the plan would empower the ruling class to act in a more authoritarian manner.

On Monday, the Knesset (parliament) is expected to hold the first of three plenum votes on the first new bill.Leaders of the protests against the “judicial reform” plan have announced large-scale demonstrations next Tuesday and declared it a day of rage in protest against the vote in the Knesset plenum."If Netanyahu's government doesn't stop, it will soon learn what happens when we get angry," one protester was quoted by AFP as warning."If we don't stop what is happening now, there will be no turning back," said another protester, adding that the bill due to be introduced on Monday "is part of a series of laws, each of which allows the passage of the other." »“If this law is passed, we will not be able to live as we wish. I am not at peace right now about our future here,” another protester quipped.