Tel Aviv: On Saturday, thousands of Israelis once again took to the streets protesting the government's judicial reforms, viewing it as an attack on democracy, Agence France-Press reported.
It was the 15th successive week of protest even after Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put a pause on the reforms on March 27. He said that it would be placed for more discussions in the parliament but split the nation, AFP writes.
Demonstrators waved signs of "Let's save democracy" along with Israeli flags while smoke bombs and flares set off among them.
In the northern port of Haifa as well as outside the residence of Justice Minister Yariv Levin in Modiin, smaller protests took place.
As to the Israeli media, tens of thousands occupied the streets, just like in the previous demonstrations. A 61-year-old demonstrator told AFP that they are fighting for democracy and they have no other country.
Another, a 45-year-old, said that she didn't even want to come for the protest on Saturday, but when her sister reminded her that they had no choice but protest, they couldn't lower their guards, and they must defend their country, she changed her mind.
AFP writes that Netanyahu's proposal would curtail the authority of the Supreme Court and give politicians more powers over the selection of judges. But the PM, whose government is a coalition of the Likud party and extreme-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies, argues that changes are needed to bring back balance to powers between lawmakers and the judiciary.
It was a day after the rating agency in the US, Moody's, announced that it was lowering the outlook of Israel to "stable" from "positive" after the Saturday protests broke out. Moody's said that the change shows the deterioration of Israle's governance as per the recent events around the government's judicial reform proposal.
It commented that the Netanyahu government's move for judicial overhaul inviting mass protests, which led it to pause the policy and have a dialogue with the opposition, was pointing out the weakening of institutional strength and policy predictability.