Huge Protest March Reaches Jerusalem After 5-Day Trek From Tel Aviv
Tens of thousands of protesters reached Jerusalem on Saturday, some having walked 40 miles from Tel Aviv. The march highlighted the depth of opposition to a government plan to restrain the judiciary.
A miles-long column of antigovernment demonstrators marched into Jerusalem on Saturday evening, turning the main road to the city into a sea of blue-and-white Israeli flags, to protest the far-right government’s plan to limit judicial power.
In temperatures that were at times close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, hundreds of the demonstrators had been marching since Tuesday night from Tel Aviv, a coastal city roughly 40 miles away, and had camped for four nights along the route. Many more joined them on subsequent days, and by Saturday the number of marchers had swelled to at least 20,000, despite the scorching heat.
By the time the march reached the outskirts of Jerusalem on Saturday, the marchers were walking 10 abreast, forcing cars into a single lane of traffic. The column stretched for at least two miles and included people in motorized wheelchairs and at least one person on crutches.
“Have you ever seen anything like this?” said Ilana Holzman, 65, a protester from Tel Aviv who had joined the march for its last leg on Saturday.
…
Hundreds of thousands of other protesters simultaneously held rallies in scores of cities across the country for a 29th consecutive week. A group representing military reservists from all branches of the army announced that about 10,000 Israelis have declared that they would stop showing up for reserve duty if the law was passed, in addition to more than 1,000 Air Force members who made similar threats in recent days.
…
Adding to the uncertainty Sunday, Mr. Netanyahu was taken to the hospital to have a pacemaker implanted during a procedure in which he would be placed under sedation, his office said.
