Tel Aviv [Israel], April 9: Anti-government protests in Israel are set to continue despite the tense security situation in the country following attacks in the West Bank and Tel Aviv as well as a flurry of missile strikes, organizers said Saturday. Violence erupted on several fronts on Friday. A car rammed into a group of people on Tel Aviv's beach promenade in the evening, killing one Italian man and wounding seven other tourists, according to police and medics.
Earlier, two British-Israeli sisters were killed in a West Bank shooting and Israel launched air strikes in Lebanon and Gaza in response to rocket attacks. Despite the recent incidents, the weekly rally against the government's controversial judicial reforms is to go ahead as planned in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening, although a protest march planned for afterwards has been cancelled upon request by police, organizers said.
Israel has been roiled by mass protests for more than three months against the reform plans of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right religious government. With the judicial reform, the government is seeking to curtail the influence of the Supreme Court and expand the government's power.
Among other things, the government would be granted more power in the appointment of judges and parliament would be able to overturn Supreme Court decisions with a simple majority.
Following widespread opposition from civil society but also from within the government and the army, the government last week postponed the reforms for a few weeks. During Saturday's rally, organizers in Tel Aviv also plan to commemorate the victims of Friday's car-ramming attack.
Source: Qatar Tribune