Thousands Attend Rally in Tel Aviv Backing Judicial Overhaul

On Thursday, there were almost 20,000 people who marched in support of the judicial overhaul plans of the government in Tel Aviv while waving Likud and Israeli flags.

This is the second such rally to take place after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced earlier this week that they were halting the legislation in light of the growing public pressure.

The protest

The ‘March for Freedom’ was organized by the Im Tirtzu organization in the heart of Tel Aviv and the right-wing organization said that their goal was to be free of the restraints of the High Court.

It further said that the people wanted to see judicial reform. A number of government ministers called on their supporters to participate in the rally.

A number of protestors who attended the rally were carrying signs that said that the elections were being stolen and referred to themselves as second class citizen.

The demonstrators marched to Kaplan Street from the Tel Aviv Museum. There were also slogans in favor of Levin and Rothman, the two political architects of the overhaul.

Some of the protestors also ended up marching towards the Ayalon Highway where they blocked traffic, a tactic that has been used in the last few months by anti-overhaul protestors.

The activists

According to the police, a large number of officers had been deployed on the scene and clashes saw 10 people being detained before the highway was reopened.

Channel Now 14’s reporter, Moti Kastel, was also surrounded by some demonstrators earlier in the rally and some cheered his name because the channel favors the Likud party.

Some of the protestors also called the Prime Minister king of Israel, using his nickname ‘Bibi’, while others demanded judicial reform.

The pro-government activists are not happy with the premier’s decision to halt the legislation process in order to have talks with the opposition.

They are of the opinion that since the government has been elected democratically, they do not need to resort to a compromise.

The complaints

Some protestors questioned whether they were not as valuable as pilots. This was in reference to the increasing number of reserve pilots who had threatened to not attend training sessions if the judicial overhaul continued.

This had been one of the key pressure points that the government had had to face in recent weeks, as it moved forward with the judicial overhaul process.

Many of the protestors covered their faces and chanted slogans against Arabs and in favor of the late extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane.

Dozens of the protestors were also recorded chasing and harassing journalists, which had also happened last week.

In fact, some of the demonstrators also had banners insulting US President Joe Biden because of his criticism of the judicial overhaul on Tuesday.

Tally Gotliv, a Likud MK, attended the protest on Thursday and said that it was a demonstration of the right-wing’s power and their love for Israel.

She said that Knesset members need to be reminded that they have a duty to those who have given them the power and pass the judicial reforms.