Thousands of Israelis took to the streets in another Saturday of protests against judicial reform

In another Saturday of protests against the judicial reform promoted by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, hundreds of thousands of Israelis demonstrated in the main cities of the country in what was the sixteenth day of demonstrations in denial of the attack on justice.

The massive protests took place three days before Israel celebrated its “Independence Day”, the 75th anniversary of the founding of the state, and on the eve of Memorial Day, with controversy over whether commemorative and solemn acts should be imbued with claims political or not.

More than 110,000 people gathered in Tel Aviv alone, but there were also demonstrations in Jerusalem, Haifa, Beersheba, Netanya, Ashdod, Beit Shemesh, Kfar Saba or Bat Yam.

“By continuing the judicial coup, the government is opening a deeper crack within Israeli society, hurting the economy and harming Israel’s security,” protest organizers said, who are not backing down after more than four months , although Netanyahu froze the reform at the end of March to seek a proposal agreed with the opposition.

However, talks to that effect, promoted by President Isaac Herzog, have been going on throughout April with no clear signs of agreement, while organizers keep their pulse on the streets until the initial reform proposal, which was supposed to undermine the l independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers, giving greater control to the executive and the legislative.

One of the aspects of the reform that most worries Israelis is the law on the selection of judges, which gives the government almost total power over the commission that appoints them, and which was due to be approved by the Knesset (Israeli parliament) last week in March , but which Netanyahu has decided to postpone while promoting dialogue with the opposition.

The reform has put the Netanyahu government in check, which has lost much of its social support, with 53% of citizens believing that the judicial reform is harmful for the country, and 60% saying they do not feel represented by the Executive, according to a poll released this weekend by public broadcaster Kan.

Another poll published on Friday by the Maariv newspaper shows that the current coalition led by Netanyahu would not renew the government if elections were held today, adding only 47 seats to the 64 it has today in a Knesset of 120 deputies.

Likud, Netanyahu’s party, would not be the most voted, with only 26 seats -against the current 32- and would be surpassed with one more deputy by the center-right national unity party, led by former defense minister, Benny Gantz .

The formations that today make up the opposition block would bring together 68 deputies, a majority sufficient to govern, with Gantz at the helm, seen as a moderate and center figure capable of obtaining consensus on both political sides.