A compact crowd of Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv, Israel, again on Saturday evening, April 8, to protest against the reform of the judiciary wanted by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, which the demonstrators consider an attack on democracy.

"Save democracy," "Freedom for all" and "Netanyahu leads us to war," read placards held at the protest, which came a day after an attack on the Tel Aviv waterfront left one dead and seven wounded.

According to organizers, about 258,000 people protested in Tel Aviv against judicial reform, in a sea of Israeli flags. Police did not give figures on turnout.

Other smaller demonstrations took place in Kfar Saba in the center, Haifa in the north of the country and in Jerusalem.

Legislative "pause"

Since the announcement of the reform project in early January, tens of thousands of Israelis have gathered every week to denounce the text and condemn the government formed in December by Benjamin Netanyahu.

The latter announced on 27 March a legislative "pause" to give a "chance [...] to dialogue", after an intensification of protest, the beginning of a general strike and the appearance of tensions within the majority.

However, the mobilization against this controversial justice reform remains strong.

For the government, the text aims, among other things, to rebalance powers by reducing the prerogatives of the Supreme Court, which the executive considers politicized, to the benefit of Parliament.

Critics of the reform, on the contrary, believe that it risks paving the way for an authoritarian drift.

Renewed tension in the Middle East

The new protest comes a day after a car-ramming attack in the Israeli metropolis killed an Italian man and injured seven people, according to Israeli police.

Earlier Friday, two British-Israeli sisters were killed in another attack in the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.

Violence has escalated in recent days after Israeli forces brutally stormed Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque in the midst of Ramadan, prompting widespread condemnation.

With AFP

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