Israel judicial crisis: Thousands march to Knesset to stop key bill vote
Tens of thousands of Israelis are marching to Jerusalem to block a parliament vote on a controversial bill that opponents say will curtail judicial oversight over legislators.
A small group of protesters launched the march from Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
The crowd grew in size every day, with footage showing a long stream of people walking along main roads on Saturday.
"I have no choice," Osnat Maimon, a participant in the march, told Middle East Eye.
"It's hard to walk in the sun and it's hard to leave my kids at home, but I have no other choice," Maimon, who joined the crowds from central Israel, added.
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The march is set to culminate in Jerusalem outside the parliament, or Knesset, before the vote on Monday.
The bill would see the abolition of the "reasonableness standard", eliminating the Supreme Court's ability to block government decisions it deems unreasonable.
It's part of a package of bills proposed by the government earlier this year, which is seeking to overhaul the judicial system in the country.
Proponents of the plan say it is necessary to restore the balance of power between government branches.
Opponents say it will remove checks and balances and undermine the independence of the judicial system.
"We want to protect our democracy from the forces now in the governing coalition," Eitan, who only gave a first name, said at the march.
"[They] basically want to make this country into a quasi-democracy," he told MEE.
Demonstrations and strikes have taken place regularly since January in a bid to force the government to halt its judicial plan.
Protesters were given a boost recently after hundreds of reservist soldiers joined their calls.
On Friday, more than 1,100 Israeli Air Force reservists, including over 400 pilots, said in an unprecedented letter that they would suspend their volunteer reserve duty if the government plan was not scrapped.
The growing protest from reservist soldiers has sparked concern among top officials in the country about the unity and readiness of the armed forces.
According to Israeli media, Yoav Gallant, Israel's defence minister and a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party, is seeking to postpone the Monday vote out of concern for the military.
Earlier this week, Netanyahu condemned the threat of reservists not showing up for duty, saying it was "akin to the destruction of democracy".
"It cannot be the case that a group within the army threatens an elected government by saying that 'if you don't act as we like, we will stop defending the country'," Netanyahu said.
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