Tel Aviv, Israel: People hold Israeli flags on Saturday during a sit-in demonstration against a contentious judicial overhaul by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's nationalist coalition government, as Israeli security forces work to disperse the protest. Photo: AFP/ Jack Guez
Israelis packed city streets on Saturday in nationwide demonstrations now in their 10th week against plans by the hard-right government to curb the Supreme Court's powers, which critics see as a threat to judicial independence.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said his aim was to balance out branches of government, wields a parliamentary majority along with his religious-nationalist coalition allies.
As the reforms head toward ratification, protests escalated and the value of the shekel slipped. Some military reservists had threatened not to heed call-up orders.
President Isaac Herzog appealed for the overhaul to be postponed and dialogue held.
"It's not a judicial reform. It's a revolution that (is) making Israel go to full dictatorship and I want Israel to stay a democracy for my kids," said Tamir Guytsabri, 58, among tens of thousands of demonstrators who gathered in central Tel Aviv.
The protests were mostly peaceful, though Reuters witnessed some injuries and arrests among protesters when police moved in against attempts to block traffic.
National police chief, Inspector-General Yaacov Shabtai, made a rare televised announcement in which he backed off from plans to reassign the head of Tel Aviv's police, which some feared presaged plans to crack down harder on protests.
The now-deferred reassignment was part of a scheduled rotation, Shabtai said, adding that police would continue safeguarding demonstrations kept within legal boundaries and "will not yield to any political pressure on the matter".
Netanyahu, who returned to office for a sixth term in late December, said the demonstrations were aimed at toppling him. He is on trial in three corruption cases and denied all wrongdoing.
"I am here to protest against the reform in the law, and to protest our prime minister, who we call 'Crime Minister'," said demonstrator Miri Lahat, 63.
-Reuters
