Thousands of Israelis again hit the streets to protest government judicial reforms
Demonstration against Israeli PM
Thousands of Israelis protested on Saturday (April 15) against the government's planned judicial overhaul. People waved Israeli flags as they took to the streets of Tel Aviv and chanted "democracy" and "shame". Local news outlets reported that smaller protests took place in the northern port of Haifa and also outside the home of Justice Minister Yariv Levin in Modiin.
Mass protests erupted after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a "pause" to allow for dialogue on the reforms which were moving through parliament. As quoted by the news agency AFP, one demonstrator, Nadav Tamir, 61, said: "We are fighting for our democracy. We have no other country."
Karen Baron, a 45-year-old Tel Aviv psychiatrist, said: "I didn't want to come today but my sister told me, 'We have no choice', and it's true. We have no choice -- we can't lower our guard. We have to defend our country."
The proposed plan would give Netanyahu and his allies in the government the final say in appointing the nation's judges. Experts and analysts have warned that the judicial plan will wreak havoc on the country's economy and isolate Israel internationally. The plan is yet to be written into law.
But Netanyahu says the judicial reform will strengthen democracy and boost business. The Israeli prime minister is on trial for corruption charges he denies.
A day before, US rating agency Moody's announced it was lowering Israel's rating, which was made "stable" from "positive". It said the change "reflects a deterioration of Israel's governance, as illustrated by the recent events around the government's proposal for overhauling the country's judiciary".
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It noted that "while mass protests have led the government to pause the legislation and seek dialogue with the opposition, the manner in which the government has attempted to implement a wide-ranging reform without seeking broad consensus points to a weakening of institutional strength and policy predictability".
(With inputs from agencies)
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