Israel: Blockades and demonstrations ahead of final vote on judicial reform project

(Corrected typo paragraph 5)

TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Israeli protesters blocked highways on Tuesday and briefly stormed the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange as lawmakers vetoed one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most controversial justice bills ahead of the summer parliamentary recess. Preparing to approve.

Thousands of people, often carrying Israeli flags, took to the streets across the country, with rallies blocking at least half a dozen highways.

A few dozen protesters entered the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and threw counterfeit banknotes to depict corruption. Doctors say a woman was injured after being hit by a car on the highway.

The reform bill—promoted by opponents as an attack on the independence of the courts and by Benjamin Netanyahu as a way to balance the branches of government—has sparked a six-month constitutional crisis between the United States and the United States. has given rise to grave concern. The right-wing coalition that surrounds the Israeli prime minister.

The opposition has implemented a strategy of obstruction by introducing 27,000 amendments to the bill. Although this parliamentary strategy should not prevent a vote on the text, the ruling coalition has a large majority in the Knesset, prompting opponents to back the text based on demonstrations.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the government was pursuing reforms “with measured steps while calling for broad consensus” and believed the scale of the protests was being exaggerated by the media.

A group calling itself military reservists opposed to judicial reform has tried to block the entry of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) into Tel Aviv and some reservists are threatening to disobey call-up orders The move has been condemned by Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi. Halevi.

(Writing by Dan Williams; French version Victor Goury-Lafont; Editing by Kate Enstringer)