Between six and seven million Israelis took part in protests against the far-right Netanyahu government since January, Israeli Police Chief Kobi Shabtai estimated on Monday.
Hadash and Communist Party of Israel activists at the rally against the judicial overhaul, in Kaplan Street, Saturday 2, 2023 (Photo: Zo Haderech)
Attending an Israeli Bar Association event, Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai reveals the estimated number of total protesters that have gathered at 4,400 locations across the country
Thousands of Israelis stage weekly protests every Saturday to show opposition to the government of Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Organizers say that the protests are staged at some 155 locations.
On Monday evening, anti-government protesters clashed with police outside a hotel in Ra’anana where a Likud party gathering was being held. Protesters gathered outside the location and honked horns and waved flags, as activists also congregated on nearby balconies. Protest organizers said they had sought to block the entrances to the hotel to prevent members of the party from entering the building. Later, a number of protesters entered the conference and violently confronted Likud activists as Minister Galit Distel Atbaryan entered the hall.
On Sunday, ore than 500 Israeli academics, scientists and doctors from around the world have called for the complete removal of the Israeli far-right government’s judicial plan, reported Haaretz. The signatories, including researchers from Harvard, Yale and Oxford, penned an open letter, published yesterday, expressing their commitment to supporting protests, strikes and other actions until the government respects the Supreme Court’s decisions and entirely reverses the judicial reforms.
The statement read, “At the outset of critical deliberations in the Supreme Court of Israel, we, Israeli academics, physicians and scientists residing abroad, wish to speak up again in support of the Justices of the Supreme Court.” “Israeli academic institutions are already experiencing a loss of funding and a ‘brain drain’ due to the government’s assault on democracy and the politicization of research and education. These destructive processes will eventually lead to the decline of science and the higher education system in Israel,” it read. “We unconditionally support our friends in Israel who are protesting against the government’s actions and, in particular, stand in solidarity with our fellow academics and healthcare professionals.”
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=31186
