The protests continue despite the Prime Minister announcing in March that the controversial legal proposals were on hold.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators have gathered in Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities to protest plans for a judicial review by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
The protests, now in their 22nd week, continued on Saturday despite Netanyahu announcing in March that the controversial legal proposals were being put on hold.
In the central city of Tel Aviv, about 100,000 people waved Israeli flags, lit torches and beat drums, according to Israeli media.
“We will continue to show them to show them that even if they have stopped on the reform plan, we will remain mobilized: they will not be able to pass laws by stealth,” said Ilit Fayn, a 55-year-old dentist.
Netanyahu’s government, a coalition between his Likud party and far-right allies and ultra-Orthodox Jews, argues that the proposed changes are necessary to rebalance powers between lawmakers and the judiciary.
Critics say it will give the government unfettered power and change the country’s system of checks and balances.
The plan would weaken the judiciary and limit judicial oversight of laws and government decisions, which critics say directly threatens civil rights, as well as the rights of minorities and marginalized groups.
Protests have continued even as the government and opposition are in talks to find a compromise on the plan.
“It is important for us to eliminate the possibility of Israel becoming a dictatorship,” Arnon Oshri, a 66-year-old farmer, told the AFP news agency.
“This corrupt government is full of outlaws who are degrading our country to the level of a third world country,” he said.
“It took the Jewish people 2,000 years to have a state and we can’t lose it to a bunch of bigots.”
