Tens of thousands of Israelis protest against Netanyahu justice plans - Reuters

TEL AVIV, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Israelis joined demonstrations connected Saturday against judicial betterment plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's caller authorities that protesters accidental volition endanger antiauthoritarian checks and balances connected ministers by the courts.

The plans, which the authorities says are needed to curb overreach by activistic judges, person drawn fierce absorption from groups including lawyers, and raised concerns among concern leaders, widening already heavy governmental divisions successful Israeli society.

"They privation to crook america into a dictatorship, they privation to destruct democracy," the caput of the Israeli Bar Association, Avi Chimi said. "They privation to destruct judicial authority, determination is nary antiauthoritarian state without a judicial authority."

Netanyahu has dismissed the protests, present successful their 3rd week, arsenic a refusal by leftist opponents to judge the results of past November's election, which produced 1 of the astir right-wing governments successful Israel's history.

The protesters accidental the aboriginal of Israeli ideology is astatine involvement if the authorities succeeds successful pushing done the plans, which would tighten governmental power implicit judicial appointments and bounds the Supreme Court's powers to overturn authorities decisions oregon Knesset laws.

As good arsenic threatening the independency of judges and weakening oversight of the authorities and parliament, they accidental the plans volition undermine the rights of minorities and unfastened the doorway to much corruption.

"We are warring for democracy," said Amnon Miller, 64, among crowds of protesters, galore bearing achromatic and bluish Israeli flags. "We fought successful this state successful the service for 30 years for our state and we won't fto this authorities instrumentality our freedom."

Saturday's protests, which Israeli media said were expected to gully much than 100,000 radical to cardinal Tel Aviv, travel days aft the Supreme Court ordered Netanyahu to occurrence Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, who leads the spiritual Shas party, implicit a caller taxation conviction.

The caller government, which took bureau this month, is an confederation betwixt Netanyahu's Likud enactment and a clutch of smaller spiritual and hard-right nationalist parties which accidental they person a mandate for sweeping change.

Netanyahu, who is himself connected proceedings connected corruption charges which helium denies, has defended the judicial betterment plans, which are presently being examined by a parliamentary committee, saying they volition reconstruct a due equilibrium betwixt the 3 branches of government.

Likud politicians person agelong accused the Supreme Court of being dominated by leftist judges who they accidental encroach connected areas extracurricular their authorization for governmental reasons. The court's defenders accidental it plays a captious relation successful holding the authorities to relationship successful a state that has nary ceremonial constitution.

A survey released by the Israel Democracy Institute past week showed spot successful the Supreme Court was markedly higher among left-wing Israelis than among those connected the right, but that determination was nary wide enactment for weakening the court's powers.

Reporting by Emily Rose; Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by David Holmes and Andrew Heavens

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