In a five-minute, Prime Minister’s speech on Monday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to end the turmoil in Israel, promising to return to negotiations with the opposition on any further changes until the end of November. But the anti-government protests in the streets only intensified.
By 10:00 p.m., dozens of protesters carrying Israeli flags had taken to the main streets in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and around the country. Some set fires or burned tires.
Broadcasting from various protest sites, Israeli television showed chaos in Tel Aviv, as police on horseback tried to push protesters onto the street but retreated after failing to control the crowd. He then unleashed a water cannon against the protesters.
In Jerusalem, protesters urged the police to join them instead of listening to Israel’s Defense Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has called for tougher laws to stop protesters blocking the streets. Authorities also used a water cannon there, to try to disperse the protesters in the street outside the Supreme Court.
After the first part of the judicial reform law – a law restricting the way the Supreme Court can overrule the government – passed the final vote in Parliament on Monday afternoon, protest groups called on Israelis to take to the streets wherever they are, and many did.
Hundreds of thousands of citizens against the reform of the courts have participated in demonstrations in Tel Aviv and throughout the country on Saturday night for the 29th consecutive week. Days of “disruption of the country” have also been held for several days of the week, with protesters flooding the international airport near Tel Aviv, gathering outside ministerial buildings and going to sea to block the port in Haifa.
On Saturday, a group of about 20,000 people marched in scorching heat through the mountains and into Jerusalem. Others had left four days earlier, traveling about 40 kilometers from Tel Aviv.
Many camped near the Parliament. The number of protesters increased after Monday’s vote.
Footage shows a car driving a crowd of people blocking a highway in central Israel on Monday night, slightly injuring three people. Police say the driver has been arrested.
The police tried to remove the protestors by force from different places but they resisted.
One of the largest protest groups that has ever protested has complained about police brutality, saying, “There is a direct line between the introduction of the first anti-terror law and the end of illegal police violence against protesters.”
“We will not be disappointed,” the statement added. “We will continue our fight.”