Judicial reform protests continue despite terror attacks, security threat

More than 100,000 Israelis protested on Saturday night in the 14th straight week of protests against the government’s planned judicial reforms.

The protests also focused on what organizers claimed was the government’s mishandling of the recent security crisis, and in support of the residents of Israel’s North and those living in the Gaza Strip area, whose “security has been compromised by the government’s incompetence,” according to a statement by the Umbrella Movement of Resistance Against Dictatorship in Israel, which represents dozens of protest organizations.

Protesters began taking to bridges above the country’s highways on Saturday afternoon. The central demonstration in Tel Aviv began, as it has in recent weeks, with a march from Habima Square to Kaplan Street.

The demonstrators held a moment of silence in honor of the Israeli victims of recent terror attacks.

Speakers included former defense minister and former IDF chief of staff Moshe Ya’alon; Dr. Meirav Aharon Gutman, a member of the Architecture and Urban Construction faculty at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology; Reichman University faculty member and former Israel Internet Association president Prof. Karine Nahon; and Hadas Karlinsky, a resident of Kibbutz Nirim in the Gaza border area and a social worker for at-risk youth.

A march planned for the end of the rally was canceled at the Israel Police’s request, organizers said.

Protesters unfurled a large banner during the demonstration that depicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Pharaoh, with the words “Let My People Go,” a reference to the story of the Jewish exodus from Egypt that Jews traditionally read on Passover, the holiday being celebrated this week.

Another large banner included the words “Security Breach,” with pictures of Netanyahu, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister and Minister within the Defense Ministry Bezalel Smotrich.

Protest organizers said that 145,000 people had attended the central demonstration in Tel Aviv. The estimate was based on security force estimates, television reports and drone technology.

“The government, led by Netanyahu, received every possible warning from the security establishment and the former defense minister, who was fired for warning about the damage that the judicial coup would cause to Israel’s security and deterrence,” the movement said in their statement.

“Those who have been calling the reservist soldiers in the IDF traitors, Nazis, thugs and anarchists are the ones who have undermined Israel’s security the most,” it said.

“It seems that Netanyahu has lost his conscience, and his government is set for destruction,” the movement said. “This government is destroying the country’s security, economy, social cohesion and security deterrence. We call on all citizens to take to the streets in massive numbers this weekend. Democracy is the strongest defense for the state of Israel.”

The group also called on the international community to support their cause and help bring attention to the “struggles facing the Israelis who are fighting for a democratic Israel.”

Demonstration organizers canceled several protests in Ra’anana, Netanya, Or Akiva and Karkur due to the recent terror attacks and will return to protest next week, according to Ynet.

Organizers of the Ra’anana protest sent their condolences to the families of the murdered victims and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.