Civilian's protests at Israel's judicial reforms reach 5th week
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Jerusalem: Against the controversial judicial changes proposed in Israel, civilian protests reached their fifth week. Tens of thousands of civilians have gathered now against the judicial changes proposed by the Netanyahu government, Al Jazeera reported.
On Saturday, protesters braved heavy rain in the central city of Tel Aviv, and they made their presence known by sloganeering against Netanyahu's justice minister, carrying blue and white Israeli flags.
A protester told Reuters that he gathered at the protest site in Tel Aviv against the transition of Israel from a democracy to an autocracy. The 48-year-old software engineer states that the transition is a disgrace and will not stand.
The government claims that the proposed changes are required to restrict the overreach by judges. However, the move has faced a big backlash from many. They raised their concerns about business leaders deepening the already deep political divisions in Israeli society.
As per critics of the proposal, it would undermine Israel's democracy if the government succeeds with the proposal. It would reinforce the government's control over judicial appointments while limiting Supreme Court's powers to invalidate government decisions or Knesset laws if needed.
One of the protesters said that the government wanted to "tear up" the judiciary system, the democracy etc., of Israel. He said that the protesters are there every week, no matter the weather, to fight the proposal and defend Israeli democracy.
Former President of the country, Yair Lapid, said, standing with a protesting crowd in Haifa that they will save their country because they are unwilling to live in an undemocratic State.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, brushed off the protests saying that they were a refusal by leftist opponents to accept the results of elections last November. The elections had resulted in ascending the most right-wing government in the country's history, Al Jazeera writes.