Tens of thousands of Israelis took part in a series of protests, for the tenth consecutive week, against the judicial amendments that the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to implement.
More than 50 thousand gathered in the city of Haifa and 3 times that number in a main square in Tel Aviv, in addition to thousands in different cities and regions.
The demonstrators raised the Israeli flag and slogans accusing Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies from the extreme right, racists and religious extremists of turning against the judiciary, the authority and the political system and seeking to turn it into a dictatorship that wastes the rights of citizens.
In a related context, the police chief, Inspector General Yaakov Shabtai, issued a rare televised announcement in which he retracted plans to transfer the Tel Aviv police chief to another position, a move that some feared could herald plans for a more severe crackdown on the protests.
Shabtai stressed that he does not intend to resign from his position and that he will remain at the top of his work in order to protect the interests of the citizens of Israel, as he put it.
He added, in a statement, that he miscalculated when he dismissed the Tel Aviv district police chief by order of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who accused him of failing to suppress the demonstrations, indicating that he realized his mistake and that he would not bow to any political pressure.
These demonstrations are being organized for the tenth week in a row, but their pace has increased dramatically over the past days, as they have witnessed the closure of a number of main streets, some of which lead to Ben Gurion Airport (the main airport).
Hundreds of retired generals, former heads of the security and intelligence agencies, Mossad, experts, businessmen, law institutes, leaders and cadres of opposition parties are participating in these protests. The total number of participants in these demonstrations is estimated at about a quarter of a million Israelis.
And coinciding with the increasing pace of demonstrations, Israeli President Isaac Herzog demanded, Thursday, Netanyahu, to cancel the judicial amendments.
The opposition says that the judicial reform plan represents "the beginning of the end for democracy," while Netanyahu reiterates that it aims to "restore the balance between powers (executive, legislative, and judicial) that was violated during the last two decades."
The plan includes amendments that limit the powers of the Supreme Court (the highest judicial authority) and give the government control over the appointment of judges.
On the other hand, Netanyahu, who returned as prime minister for a sixth term in late December, says that the demonstrations aim to overthrow him.
He is being tried in 3 corruption cases and denies any wrongdoing.