Israeli protesters take to streets on 18th week of anti-Netanyahu rallies
Thousands of Israeli protesters across the occupied Palestinian lands have taken to the streets on 18th consecutive week of rallies against the judicial reforms proposed by the far-right cabinet of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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Protesters gathered in the Habima Square in Tel Aviv on Saturday, waving flags and chanting slogans against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they prepared to march on Kaplan Street, a major thoroughfare in the central section of the city.
A demonstrator held up a picture of far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, witha caption reading "the minister of national failure."
Inthe central city of Rehovot,hundreds of protesters rallied as they waved flags and blocked a major road junction.
Protest organizers said in a statement released earlier that Netanyahu’s cabinet is waiting to turn Israel into a "messianic and dangerous dictatorship," while underlying the economic cost of the regime’s refusal to ditch the reforms altogether.
"As long as the deliberations in the president's house continue, no investment is entering Israel and the Israeli economy is crashing," the organizers said.
The rallies have been a weekly fixture since January when the regime announced the reforms that also seek to give Netanyahu's extremist cabinet effective control over the appointment of the Supreme Court's judges.
Netanyahu's coalition, a combination struck between his Likud party and extreme-right and ultra-Orthodox political allies, argues that changes are needed to rebalance power between the executive and judicial branches of the regime.
Saturday’s rallies were held despite Netanyahu announcing a pause in legislation for the reforms more than a month ago, following weeks of mass protests and a general strike.
The general public, however, is still skeptical of the premier's intentions as seen by monumental rallies across the occupied territories since January, when the Israeli regime's cabinet started paving the way for the implementation of the changes.
Earlier this month, Israeli President Isaac Herzog began hosting cross-party talks aimed at reaching a compromise on the reform package.
The weekly protests have, meanwhile, been met with sporadic counter-rallies in favor of Netanyahu's proposed reforms.
Meanwhile, 74 percent of Israelis have expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of Netanyahu’s cabinet, a new poll shows.
In the poll, conducted by Israeli television channel KAN 11, 74 percent of the respondents described the performance of Netanyahu’s cabinet as “not good” at all.
