Tens of thousands of people demonstrated against Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv on Saturday evening. The protests are primarily directed against Justice Minister Jariv Levin’s plans to specifically weaken the country’s judicial system. It was the largest demonstration to date against the new government, which was sworn in at the end of December. Protests also took place in Haifa and Jerusalem.
The mass rally in Tel Aviv, in which around 80,000 people took part, according to media reports, began in the city center on the square in front of the Habima National Theater. The demonstrators then marched through the streets waving blue and white Israeli flags. “Democracy,” they chanted again and again. “The state is not your toy,” read one poster.