JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday vowed to press ahead with his contentious judicial overhaul, despite unprecedented mass protests at home, growing defections by military reservists and appeals from the U.S. president to put the plan on hold.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday vowed to press ahead with his contentious judicial overhaul, despite unprecedented mass protests at home, growing defections by military reservists and appeals from the U.S. president to put the plan on hold.
Netanyahu’s message, delivered in a prime time address on national television, set the stage for stepped-up street protests in the coming days leading up to a fateful vote expected Monday. After Netanyahu’s speech, protesters blocked Tel Aviv’s main highway for several hours, lighting bonfires and clashing with the police. Hundreds of others continued a roughly 70 kilometer (roughly 45 mile) march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.