For the 23rd week in a row, thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets of Tel Aviv, Haifa and Rehovot to demonstrate against the government of Binyamin Netanyahu’s controversial reform plan for the judicial system.
“We are being held hostage,” said Michal Gat, 47, who works in the high-tech industry, in Tel Aviv. “Our country, its economy, human rights are being taken over by extreme people,” she said. We have been here for twenty-three weeks with our children, rain or shine. It is very important for the Israeli people to preserve democracy in Israel. »
A number of protesters also held up signs criticizing the government’s inaction in the face of a crime wave currently hitting the country’s Arab minority. “We won’t let Ben-Gvir get away with murder in Arab society,” read one, a reference to Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. .
On Thursday, five of them were shot dead at a car wash in Yafia, an Arab town west of Nazareth, possibly in connection with a gang war, according to Israeli police. Since the start of the year, nearly 100 people have been killed in violence linked to crime among Israel’s Arab minority, according to various Arab rights NGOs.
The President of the State of Israel, Isaac Herzog, has been negotiating for a month with representatives of the government and the opposition in order to reach a compromise on the terms of this reform.
