Former judges lead protest march 'in defense of Israel's judiciary'

Israeli judicial reform protesters marched across Tel Aviv on Wednesday evening in "defense of the judiciary and its gatekeepers" led by all major protest groups and a host of former judges.

Israeli protest organization Kaplan Force released a statement ahead of the march, claiming that "Netanyahu has been running a campaign aimed at whitewashing his intention to violate the High Court of Justice's rulings and plunge Israel into a serious legal crisis. He intends to be a criminal above the law," wrote the group in their statement. 

"This is total anarchy," the statement continued, "a process at the end of which everything will collapse and only he will remain as the sole ruler - a Turkish dictatorship with a Hungarian flavor."

"This process is still reversible if we act now. We can still save democracy if we go out en masse to protect the judicial system [so that it] will remain independent...That's why we are coming out at 7:00 p.m. today to march."

When and where

The march will gather at Independence Hall in Tel Aviv on Rothschild Blvd and proceed to the Tel Aviv district courthouse on Weizman St. and from there it will continue to the Kirya.

"Come - the situation is reversible. Israel can be turned back to the path of democracy and it depends on every one of us," the statement concluded. 

Joining the Kaplan Force at the Tel Aviv march are the protest groups of Israeli students, hi-tech workers, doctors, attorneys, LGBT organizations and more. In addition, former ministers Tzipi Livni and Avi Nissenkorn as well as Israeli Bar Association head Amit Becher will march alongside protesters.