July 18 (UPI) — Demonstrators protesting judicial reforms championed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stormed buildings and blocked traffic on Tuesday.
As Netanyahu’s conservative government continued to push reforms that many critics say would remove the independence of the courts. Protesters rallied in various cities as the reforms picked up steam in the Israeli legislature.
One crowd swarmed the Rabbinical Court in Tel Aviv in what it called a “day of resistance.” Protest organizer Moran Zer Katzenstein told hundreds that the reforms would turn Israel into a dictatorship.
“Men and women are standing shoulder to shoulder to say no to the court that wants to expand its influence,” Katzenstein said. “We’re here to tell them they won’t take us backward — and they won’t make us Iran.”
One woman was detained after spray painting the word “shame” on the wall of the court.
Another group of protesters blocked the entrance of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and made it inside to continue their demonstration. They claimed the reforms would cause financial damage to Israel.
Israeli military reservists who are demonstrating under the name Brothers and Sisters in Arms blocked the entrance to the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv. Some placed plastic tubing on their arms to make it more difficult for authorities to remove them from the site.
More protesters created a slow-moving convoy on Tel Aviv’s busiest highway, creating a buildup of heavy traffic. Demonstrators protested outside the home of Histadrut labor federation chief Arnon Bar-David in Kiryat Ono. Ben-David has refused to call a union strike in support of the protests.
