TEL AVIV
\nTens of thousands of Israelis joined demonstrations on Saturday against judicial reform plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s new government that protesters say will threaten democratic checks and balances on ministers by the courts.
\nThe plans, which the government says are needed to curb overreach by activist judges, have drawn fierce opposition from groups including lawyers, and raised concerns among business leaders, widening already deep political divisions in Israeli society.
\n\u201cThey want to turn us into a dictatorship, they want to destroy democracy,\u201d the head of the Israeli Bar Association, Avi Chimi said. \u201cThey want to destroy judicial authority, there is no democratic country without a judicial authority.\u201d
\nNetanyahu has dismissed the protests, now in their third week, as a refusal by leftist opponents to accept the results of last November\u2019s election, which produced one of the most right-wing governments in Israel\u2019s history.
\nThe protesters say the future of Israeli democracy is at stake if the government succeeds in pushing through the plans, which would tighten political control over judicial appointments and limit the Supreme Court\u2019s powers to overturn government decisions or Knesset laws.
\nAs well as threatening the independence of judges and weakening oversight of the government and parliament, they say the plans will undermine the rights of minorities and open the door to more corruption.
\n\u201cWe are fighting for democracy,\u201d said Amnon Miller, 64, among crowds of protesters, many bearing white and blue Israeli flags. \u201cWe fought in this country in the army for 30 years for our freedom and we won\u2019t let this government take our freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
TEL AVIV Tens of thousands of Israelis joined demonstrations on Saturday against judicial reform plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s new government that protesters say will threaten democratic checks and balances on ministers by the courts. The plans, which the government says are needed to curb overreach by activist judges, have drawn fierce opposition from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":309105,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-309078","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n