Several thousand Israelis demonstrated this Saturday night in Tel Aviv against the new government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, the most right-wing in the country’s history.
“Get out”, “Together against fascism and apartheid”, “Democracy in danger”, could be read on banners held by the protesters who took to the streets of the city center, Agence France-Press (AFP) journalists said. ).
Winner of the legislative elections on November 1, Benjamin Netanyahu, accused of corruption, took office on December 29 as head of a government made up of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties, of which some tenors have been appointed to key posts.
“I came here today with thousands of people. It is the first time but (the movement) will last because we have a problem, the extremists are deploying their forces when they do not represent the majority” of the population,” said Omer, a protester. who works in Tel Aviv in the high-tech sector.
The new ministerial team has already announced its intentions, among other things, to continue colonization in the Palestinian Territories, to carry out reforms that are of particular concern to the LGBT community, and its intentions to reform the judicial system.
“We don’t want to see our democracy disappear”
A controversial reform, presented to the press on Wednesday, foresees the introduction of the so-called “repeal clause” that would allow Parliament, with a simple majority of votes, to annul a decision of the Supreme Court.
“We don’t want to see our democracy disappear and destroy the Supreme Court. We want the government to be controlled,” said Assaf, a lawyer who declined to give his last name.
Along with Israeli and rainbow-colored flags, protesters in Tel Aviv also pulled out T-shirts and banners that were crossed out with the words “Crime Minister” in reference to the indictment of Benjamin Netanyahu for bribery in a series of cases.
This slogan had been widely taken up during a protest movement against Netanyahu that had seen, since 2020 and for months, Israelis gather every week on Saturday nights to demand the departure of the one who had already been in office from 1996 to 1999. from 2009 to 2021.
The Likud leader (right) had been ousted from power in June 2021 by a motley coalition created to oust him, but has vowed to get back to business.
Source: BFM TV
