Israel. Struggles against judicial reform. More demonstrations in over a hundred cities

Demonstrations against judicial reform took place across Israel on Saturday, with around 150,000 people attending a large rally in Tel Aviv.

As The Times of Israel pointed out, the protests came a day after Moody’s, one of the largest rating agencies, downgraded Israel’s economic outlook from positive to stable due to the coalition’s highly controversial proposals for judicial reform.

A counter-demonstration was organized in the coastal city of Netanya, which gathered around 150 supporters of the reform, according to reports from Channel 13. Defense Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who supported the changes, attended the rally and told the crowd: “We are for reform. For the soldiers. For the state of Israel.” The Times of Israel reported that 24,000 Reform protesters protested in Netanya at the same time.

Former Prime Minister Yair Lapid attended an anti-revolutionary rally in Netanya and warned the opposition. – Evil and undemocratic governments do not stand alone. They will only stop when enough good, positive and patriotic citizens wrap themselves in flags and take to the streets, he said.

While work on the bill has been shelved to allow for talks with the opposition, several coalition members have said they could bring it up again within weeks if talks fail.

The judicial reform plan would increase the government’s control over the election process of Supreme Court judges and the ability to overturn Supreme Court rulings by a 61-vote majority in the 120-member Knesset. The plans have caused Israel to face the biggest wave of protests in years.

Netanyahu, who is under investigation on corruption charges, denies that reforms are necessary to balance the influence of different branches of power.