Tens of Thousands Expected at anti-government Protests in Tel Aviv and More

On Saturday night, tens of thousands of Israelis were expected to be in attendance for the anti-government protests against the judicial overhaul in Tel Aviv and other parts of the country.

The protestors were planning to gather for the eighth consecutive week, as organizers vowed to show their ‘unity and power’ to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

This was after the premier had said that he wanted to strike the protestors and use ‘a fist’ against them.

The statements

On Saturday morning, a statement was issued by the organizers who said that anyone wanting to beat and punch them would get to see their unity and power on Saturday night.

During a meeting on Friday, Netanyahu had compared the demonstrations by protestors against his coalition government’s overhaul plans to those that had been done by anti-vaxxers.

He had also said that he wanted to use a fist against these anti-government protestors. On Saturday night, large scale protests are once more expected to take place in Tel Aviv.

The protests on Saturday were scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., starting from Dizengoff Square and moving towards Kaplan Street where the previous demonstrations have happened.

The protests

Some of the people scheduled to speak at the Saturday protests include Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the US Reform Judaism leader and Ehud Barak, the former prime minister.

On Thursday, Barak had warned that Israel could end up as a dictatorship due to the push of the hardline government to take away the powers of the judiciary.

He had also added that the only option people would have would be to refuse orders given by an ‘illegitimate’ government.

Reports have also said that after the march, the traffic on Ayalon Highway would be blacked by activities who are part of the ‘Black Flag’ movement, which is against Netanyahu.

More details

Protests will also be held in other areas across Israel, with Benny Gantz, the leader of the National Unity party, scheduled to speak at the one in Haifa.

Netanyahu clearly expressed his frustration against the ongoing protests in the country on Friday in a coalition meeting.

He said that the demonstrations were similar to the ones that had been conducted against some of his other initiatives.

These included the ones that had happened when he had acquired COVID-19 vaccines when he had been premier the last time.

Referring to a 2015 controversial gas deal, Netanyahu said that the people who had protested against it and coronavirus vaccines were the ones protecting against the judicial overhaul.

He said that they had claimed that the gas deal would lead to damage and they were claiming that the reforms would do the same, but this lie needs to be struck down.

His office later clarified that the premier had been speaking figuratively. It said that he had not been talking about beating anyone physically.

The plans of the coalition about overhauling the justice system has resulted in mass protests in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other areas of the country.